The Antecedents of True Loyalty in Gacha Mobile Games: A Case Study in “Honkai: Star Rail”

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Sentosa, Andrea Nadya (2026) The Antecedents of True Loyalty in Gacha Mobile Games: A Case Study in “Honkai: Star Rail”. Masters thesis, IPMI Institute.

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Abstract

The live-service gacha mobile game industry faces challenges with how to keep players engaged and loyal in the long run, with rewards, gameplay experiences, and ever-changing content all influencing player perceptions. However, little empirical evidence combined rewards, flow experience and content marketing to explain true loyalty, especially through the mediating role of player satisfaction in live-service gacha games. This study examines these relationships with the game Honkai: Star Rail as a case study of Indonesian players, specifically in the Jabodetabek region. The study used a quantitative explanatory research design with a structured questionnaire and purposive sampling. The results obtained 143 valid respondents. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4. The results show that rewards, flow experience and content marketing have positive and significant impacts on both player satisfaction and true loyalty. Player satisfaction exerts a significant positive effect on true loyalty and exerts a significant mediating effect on the relationships between the three antecedent variables and true loyalty. The results hint that in live-service gacha games, real loyalty is built up not just on direct experience of players but also through satisfaction as an important mechanism. This study contributes to the understanding of loyalty development in live-service gacha games and provides practical implications for developers to foster long-term loyalty through meaningful rewards, immersive gameplay, engaging content, and player satisfaction.

Keywords: Rewards, Flow Experience, Content Marketing, Player Satisfaction, True Loyalty

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Thesis > Master of Business Administration
Depositing User:	sandra margaretha
Date Deposited:	28 Sep 2026 02:33
Last Modified:	28 Sep 2026 02:33
URI:	http://repository.ipmi.ac.id/id/eprint/3040

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