I would love to know when he discovered that gacha was his thing, because I get the feeling that it was after he started getting a rep on YouTube, and needed something to feel good about.
Regardless of when he became hooked, though, it's very clear now that I was wrong about it being a monkey on his back that he's too lazy and pathetic to even try getting rid of. He genuinely enjoys gacha as a hobby, and probably would even without so many memories in his head of being laughed at for sucking at real video games.
I would take back what I've said about how much of a loser this makes him, but I just can't because his enjoyment has still cost him at least $40k, he still has nothing to show for it, and he's still being a fraud. So fuck you, Phil. Idiot.