# Spark

> An exchange ceiling in gacha games, where every pull earns a token and a fixed number of tokens (300 in Granblue Fantasy, 200 in many later games) buys the featured item outright. Named after Granblue's cerulean sparks.

- Canonical URL: https://gachawiki.com/wiki/spark
- Type: term
- Verification status: verified (facts checked 2026-07-09)
- Last updated: 2026-07-09
- License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Attribution: "Spark", GachaWiki, https://gachawiki.com/wiki/spark

A spark is an exchange ceiling: every pull on a banner grants one token, and a fixed number of tokens can be exchanged for an item of the player's choice from the banner's list, usually including the featured character. Unlike probabilistic [pity](/wiki/pity-system), a spark is deterministic. It converts "you will probably get it eventually" into "you will get it at N pulls, at the latest".

The name comes from [Granblue Fantasy](/wiki/granblue-fantasy)'s cerulean sparks, introduced on March 10, 2016 after the Anchira incident, in which a player documented spending about 700,000 yen in a day chasing a rate-up character with no safety net. [[2]](#ref-2) Cygames set the exchange at 300 draws, about 90,000 yen if fully paid, and the number stuck: "to spark" a character means to bank 300 pulls for them. [[1]](#ref-1) Japanese players call the same mechanic tenjou, "ceiling".

Later games tuned the number down and varied persistence:

| Game | Spark cost | Carries between banners? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Granblue Fantasy](/wiki/granblue-fantasy) | 300 draws | no |
| [Arknights](/wiki/arknights) (limited banners) | 300 pulls | no |
| [Blue Archive](/wiki/blue-archive) | 200 recruits | no |
| [Umamusume: Pretty Derby](/wiki/umamusume-pretty-derby) | 200 pulls | no |
| [NIKKE](/wiki/nikke) | 200 pulls | yes, mileage never expires |
| [Fate/Grand Order](/wiki/fate-grand-order) | 330 rolls (auto-granted) | no |

Whether tokens expire is the sharp edge of the mechanic: a non-persistent spark only protects players who can commit the full amount inside one banner window, which shapes saving behavior across the whole player base. See the [pity comparison](/compare/pity-systems) for current values with sources.

## References

1. Draw rates and cerulean spark rules (Granblue Fantasy community wiki): https://gbf.wiki/Draw (accessed 2026-07-09)
2. $6,065 hunt for a blonde avatar exposes dark side of Japan gaming (Bloomberg): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-09/-6-065-hunt-for-blonde-avatar-exposes-dark-side-of-japan-gaming (accessed 2026-07-09)