big fish small pond

A game monetization strategy for encouraging player spending by splitting the player base into smaller isolated groups (often servers) that cannot interact with each other within the game, especially in the context of pay-to-win and gacha. Whales will find it easier to top leader boards due to the smaller amount of competition, and non-whales who are surprised to find themselves on the leader boards will feel pressure to spend money to keep their position. Additionally, if casual players begin to lose interest and depopulate servers, low-population servers can be merged (usually without notifying players) to prevent whales from realizing that they are spending money on a dying game.

"Of course I bought the top tier battle pass! I've been in the Top 200 for PvP in this mobile game since it launched!" "Big fish small pond, eh?"