Why are people who spend a lot of money on video game micro-transactions called “whales”?











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Pretty much every game that involves micro-transactions has a large amount of their micro-transaction revenue coming from a very small percentage of their players, the so-called "whales" that spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month on them. I've also sometimes heard gamers that spend lower amounts of money as "dolphins".



Why are these players called whales and dolphins? Does it have to do with the whale hunting or something?










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  • 17




    Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
    – Aaron Rotenberg
    Dec 1 at 20:15






  • 2




    @AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Dec 1 at 22:17










  • "the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
    – Trilarion
    Dec 4 at 13:18















up vote
67
down vote

favorite
6












Pretty much every game that involves micro-transactions has a large amount of their micro-transaction revenue coming from a very small percentage of their players, the so-called "whales" that spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month on them. I've also sometimes heard gamers that spend lower amounts of money as "dolphins".



Why are these players called whales and dolphins? Does it have to do with the whale hunting or something?










share|improve this question


















  • 17




    Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
    – Aaron Rotenberg
    Dec 1 at 20:15






  • 2




    @AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Dec 1 at 22:17










  • "the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
    – Trilarion
    Dec 4 at 13:18













up vote
67
down vote

favorite
6









up vote
67
down vote

favorite
6






6





Pretty much every game that involves micro-transactions has a large amount of their micro-transaction revenue coming from a very small percentage of their players, the so-called "whales" that spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month on them. I've also sometimes heard gamers that spend lower amounts of money as "dolphins".



Why are these players called whales and dolphins? Does it have to do with the whale hunting or something?










share|improve this question













Pretty much every game that involves micro-transactions has a large amount of their micro-transaction revenue coming from a very small percentage of their players, the so-called "whales" that spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month on them. I've also sometimes heard gamers that spend lower amounts of money as "dolphins".



Why are these players called whales and dolphins? Does it have to do with the whale hunting or something?







terminology






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share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Nov 30 at 9:23









Nzall

11.9k85179




11.9k85179








  • 17




    Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
    – Aaron Rotenberg
    Dec 1 at 20:15






  • 2




    @AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Dec 1 at 22:17










  • "the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
    – Trilarion
    Dec 4 at 13:18














  • 17




    Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
    – Aaron Rotenberg
    Dec 1 at 20:15






  • 2




    @AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Dec 1 at 22:17










  • "the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
    – Trilarion
    Dec 4 at 13:18








17




17




Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
– Aaron Rotenberg
Dec 1 at 20:15




Because whales consume vast quantities of tiny things constantly. (Note: This is not the actual reason.)
– Aaron Rotenberg
Dec 1 at 20:15




2




2




@AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
– YetAnotherRandomUser
Dec 1 at 22:17




@AaronRotenberg seems like a good 2nd definition for Urban Dictionary lol
– YetAnotherRandomUser
Dec 1 at 22:17












"the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
– Trilarion
Dec 4 at 13:18




"the so-called "whales" " A citation would by nice.
– Trilarion
Dec 4 at 13:18










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
119
down vote













The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts of money. Just like in the game industry, casinos want to "catch" the most high-betting whales, because they provide a lot of income for comparably little expense. Casinos often go out of their way to form personal connections with whales and provide them with personalized service to ensure their loyalty and make sure they lose their money in their casinos and not those owned by the competition. Some game companies in the microtransaction business are also known to do this.



The casinos, in turn, took the term from the Poker community which has a tradition of using fish-themed terms for different categories of players, like "fish" for weak players and "shark" for strong players who prey on the "fish" in order to take their money. A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find: a very large fish* who has a lot of money and likes to play high-stakes games despite not being skilled enough to compete in them.



*Yes, I know that whales are mammals and not fish.






share|improve this answer



















  • 6




    I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
    – At0mic
    Dec 1 at 4:38






  • 1




    "A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
    – Acccumulation
    Dec 3 at 21:36


















up vote
39
down vote













The term originated in casinos, where's high rollers (rich people who play for large stakes) are well-looked after by the casino, in order to ensure that they gamble at their casino instead of some place else.



These high rollers were referred to as whales by the casino, which can loosely be translated to "people with money to spend and who are likely to spend it on us". The same loose description applies to people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions, so the description was reused.



"Dolphin" is a wordplay on "whale", as a dolphin is a "small whale" (not biologically accurate but it fits the figure of speech).






share|improve this answer



















  • 24




    It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
    – Keeta
    Nov 30 at 15:42








  • 18




    In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
    – Philipp
    Nov 30 at 16:19






  • 1




    Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
    – Kevin
    Nov 30 at 20:32






  • 2




    @TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
    – immibis
    Dec 2 at 3:01






  • 1




    @immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
    – TKK
    Dec 3 at 16:46













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2 Answers
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2 Answers
2






active

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active

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active

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up vote
119
down vote













The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts of money. Just like in the game industry, casinos want to "catch" the most high-betting whales, because they provide a lot of income for comparably little expense. Casinos often go out of their way to form personal connections with whales and provide them with personalized service to ensure their loyalty and make sure they lose their money in their casinos and not those owned by the competition. Some game companies in the microtransaction business are also known to do this.



The casinos, in turn, took the term from the Poker community which has a tradition of using fish-themed terms for different categories of players, like "fish" for weak players and "shark" for strong players who prey on the "fish" in order to take their money. A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find: a very large fish* who has a lot of money and likes to play high-stakes games despite not being skilled enough to compete in them.



*Yes, I know that whales are mammals and not fish.






share|improve this answer



















  • 6




    I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
    – At0mic
    Dec 1 at 4:38






  • 1




    "A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
    – Acccumulation
    Dec 3 at 21:36















up vote
119
down vote













The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts of money. Just like in the game industry, casinos want to "catch" the most high-betting whales, because they provide a lot of income for comparably little expense. Casinos often go out of their way to form personal connections with whales and provide them with personalized service to ensure their loyalty and make sure they lose their money in their casinos and not those owned by the competition. Some game companies in the microtransaction business are also known to do this.



The casinos, in turn, took the term from the Poker community which has a tradition of using fish-themed terms for different categories of players, like "fish" for weak players and "shark" for strong players who prey on the "fish" in order to take their money. A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find: a very large fish* who has a lot of money and likes to play high-stakes games despite not being skilled enough to compete in them.



*Yes, I know that whales are mammals and not fish.






share|improve this answer



















  • 6




    I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
    – At0mic
    Dec 1 at 4:38






  • 1




    "A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
    – Acccumulation
    Dec 3 at 21:36













up vote
119
down vote










up vote
119
down vote









The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts of money. Just like in the game industry, casinos want to "catch" the most high-betting whales, because they provide a lot of income for comparably little expense. Casinos often go out of their way to form personal connections with whales and provide them with personalized service to ensure their loyalty and make sure they lose their money in their casinos and not those owned by the competition. Some game companies in the microtransaction business are also known to do this.



The casinos, in turn, took the term from the Poker community which has a tradition of using fish-themed terms for different categories of players, like "fish" for weak players and "shark" for strong players who prey on the "fish" in order to take their money. A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find: a very large fish* who has a lot of money and likes to play high-stakes games despite not being skilled enough to compete in them.



*Yes, I know that whales are mammals and not fish.






share|improve this answer














The term "Whale" is borrowed from the casino industry, where it is used to describe a rich gambler who bets extraordinarily large amounts of money. Just like in the game industry, casinos want to "catch" the most high-betting whales, because they provide a lot of income for comparably little expense. Casinos often go out of their way to form personal connections with whales and provide them with personalized service to ensure their loyalty and make sure they lose their money in their casinos and not those owned by the competition. Some game companies in the microtransaction business are also known to do this.



The casinos, in turn, took the term from the Poker community which has a tradition of using fish-themed terms for different categories of players, like "fish" for weak players and "shark" for strong players who prey on the "fish" in order to take their money. A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find: a very large fish* who has a lot of money and likes to play high-stakes games despite not being skilled enough to compete in them.



*Yes, I know that whales are mammals and not fish.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Dec 1 at 2:10

























answered Nov 30 at 16:32









Philipp

20.9k888150




20.9k888150








  • 6




    I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
    – At0mic
    Dec 1 at 4:38






  • 1




    "A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
    – Acccumulation
    Dec 3 at 21:36














  • 6




    I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
    – At0mic
    Dec 1 at 4:38






  • 1




    "A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
    – Acccumulation
    Dec 3 at 21:36








6




6




I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
– At0mic
Dec 1 at 4:38




I’d also like to add that “whales” is a term I’ve seen used in investing communities such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.
– At0mic
Dec 1 at 4:38




1




1




"A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
– Acccumulation
Dec 3 at 21:36




"A "whale" is what every "shark" hopes to find" Especially if that whale thinks they're a shark. I think that part of the definition of "whale" is not merely betting a lot of money, but losing a lot of money. Card counters tend to pretend to be whales, when it fact they're not.
– Acccumulation
Dec 3 at 21:36












up vote
39
down vote













The term originated in casinos, where's high rollers (rich people who play for large stakes) are well-looked after by the casino, in order to ensure that they gamble at their casino instead of some place else.



These high rollers were referred to as whales by the casino, which can loosely be translated to "people with money to spend and who are likely to spend it on us". The same loose description applies to people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions, so the description was reused.



"Dolphin" is a wordplay on "whale", as a dolphin is a "small whale" (not biologically accurate but it fits the figure of speech).






share|improve this answer



















  • 24




    It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
    – Keeta
    Nov 30 at 15:42








  • 18




    In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
    – Philipp
    Nov 30 at 16:19






  • 1




    Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
    – Kevin
    Nov 30 at 20:32






  • 2




    @TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
    – immibis
    Dec 2 at 3:01






  • 1




    @immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
    – TKK
    Dec 3 at 16:46

















up vote
39
down vote













The term originated in casinos, where's high rollers (rich people who play for large stakes) are well-looked after by the casino, in order to ensure that they gamble at their casino instead of some place else.



These high rollers were referred to as whales by the casino, which can loosely be translated to "people with money to spend and who are likely to spend it on us". The same loose description applies to people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions, so the description was reused.



"Dolphin" is a wordplay on "whale", as a dolphin is a "small whale" (not biologically accurate but it fits the figure of speech).






share|improve this answer



















  • 24




    It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
    – Keeta
    Nov 30 at 15:42








  • 18




    In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
    – Philipp
    Nov 30 at 16:19






  • 1




    Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
    – Kevin
    Nov 30 at 20:32






  • 2




    @TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
    – immibis
    Dec 2 at 3:01






  • 1




    @immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
    – TKK
    Dec 3 at 16:46















up vote
39
down vote










up vote
39
down vote









The term originated in casinos, where's high rollers (rich people who play for large stakes) are well-looked after by the casino, in order to ensure that they gamble at their casino instead of some place else.



These high rollers were referred to as whales by the casino, which can loosely be translated to "people with money to spend and who are likely to spend it on us". The same loose description applies to people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions, so the description was reused.



"Dolphin" is a wordplay on "whale", as a dolphin is a "small whale" (not biologically accurate but it fits the figure of speech).






share|improve this answer














The term originated in casinos, where's high rollers (rich people who play for large stakes) are well-looked after by the casino, in order to ensure that they gamble at their casino instead of some place else.



These high rollers were referred to as whales by the casino, which can loosely be translated to "people with money to spend and who are likely to spend it on us". The same loose description applies to people who spend a lot of money on microtransactions, so the description was reused.



"Dolphin" is a wordplay on "whale", as a dolphin is a "small whale" (not biologically accurate but it fits the figure of speech).







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited Nov 30 at 14:18

























answered Nov 30 at 13:47









Flater

3,0681320




3,0681320








  • 24




    It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
    – Keeta
    Nov 30 at 15:42








  • 18




    In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
    – Philipp
    Nov 30 at 16:19






  • 1




    Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
    – Kevin
    Nov 30 at 20:32






  • 2




    @TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
    – immibis
    Dec 2 at 3:01






  • 1




    @immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
    – TKK
    Dec 3 at 16:46
















  • 24




    It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
    – Keeta
    Nov 30 at 15:42








  • 18




    In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
    – Philipp
    Nov 30 at 16:19






  • 1




    Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
    – Kevin
    Nov 30 at 20:32






  • 2




    @TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
    – immibis
    Dec 2 at 3:01






  • 1




    @immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
    – TKK
    Dec 3 at 16:46










24




24




It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
– Keeta
Nov 30 at 15:42






It may be good to better link to the gambling establishment, and how it tends to be marine based. history of fish/sucker, shark, whale are well described in this article, but not different enough to warrant a new answer: realonlinegambling.com/terms/whale Dolphin refers to someone who "dips in and out" with their money.
– Keeta
Nov 30 at 15:42






18




18




In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
– Philipp
Nov 30 at 16:19




In order to complete this answer you would now also need to tell us how the casino industry came to use the term "whale".
– Philipp
Nov 30 at 16:19




1




1




Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
– Kevin
Nov 30 at 20:32




Related, the term is also used in retail to indicate returning customers who spend a lot.
– Kevin
Nov 30 at 20:32




2




2




@TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
– immibis
Dec 2 at 3:01




@TKK I wasn't aware that there were both mammal dolphins and fish dolphins...?
– immibis
Dec 2 at 3:01




1




1




@immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
– TKK
Dec 3 at 16:46






@immibis Dolphin Fish. As a kid, I had a field guide (probably from the 1950s-1970s) in which they were simply labeled dolphin. It was many years later that I first heard them called by their now more common name mahi-mahi.
– TKK
Dec 3 at 16:46




















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