The worst gacha update ever made? What are the Infinity Nikki execs thinking!

Summary

Highlights

• The game introduced a major retcon that left the original story pointless, upsetting players. 📖
• A critical dying feature now requires extensive spending, alienating free-to-play players. 💸
• Technical issues post-update left many players unable to even log in or play properly. 🐞
• The response from Infinity Nikki's developers was seen as a non-apology by many. 📝
• Community unity in their collective backlash is a first for a gacha game. 🤝
• The update's chaos is largely seen as an executive blunder rather than a developer issue. 📉

Key Takeaways

• Infinity Nikki's 1.5 update caused an uproar among fans due to major changes and bugs. 🎮
• The game's charming story was retconned, leaving players feeling detached. 📜
• A new dying feature became prohibitively expensive, altering the game's dynamic. 🎨
• Players expressed discontent with gacha system changes, calling for boycotts. 🚫
• The developers are working on fixes, but the community remains skeptical. 🛠

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Destruction of Goodwill The chapter "Destruction of Goodwill" explores how the game Infinity Nikki quickly lost its positive reputation. Initially seen as a calm and refreshing option in the chaotic gacha gaming sector, its rapid decline in goodwill surprised players. The game experienced a honeymoon period of just five months, far shorter than expected, highlighting a common trend where games launch strongly but decline as time progresses. The current negative situation of Infinity Nikki is contrasted with the issues faced by other games like Wua, Genshin, and Star Rail, suggesting that its fall from grace is considerably severe.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Why Highlight Issues The chapter titled 'Why Highlight Issues' discusses the importance of bringing attention to concerns within the context of a game called Infinity Nikki. The narrator argues that highlighting these issues is crucial for the game's success and growth, as it allows the developers to understand and address the players' concerns. The chapter sets the stage for a deeper exploration by providing context about the game, which is an open-world dress-up gacha game with a focus on exploration rather than combat.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Infinity Nikki's Unique Appeal This chapter discusses the unique appeal of the game 'Infinity Nikki,' focusing on its open-world puzzles and in-depth clothing and fashion systems. Unlike other games where players pull for characters or weapons, in 'Infinity Nikki,' players pull for various clothing items such as dresses, hats, jackets, and more. The game's story adds to its whimsical charm, beginning with the protagonist Nikki and her companion Momo exploring her attic in search of clothes. After discovering her mother's dress and experiencing a magical encounter, they are transported to an alternate universe where clothes possess magical powers.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Platforming and Storytelling Aspects The chapter discusses the game's serene and enchanting atmosphere, reminiscent of Narnia, emphasizing the respect and reverence for style. It appeals to those who appreciate a more relaxed gaming experience alongside those who favor combat-focused games. Although the narrator intended to review the game earlier, they were unable to do so due to other priorities.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Expectations from Infold The chapter discusses the game "Infold," which is reminiscent of classic 3D platformers like Spyro. It highlights how the game's platforming mechanics and boss fights are an evolution of traditional ideas, bringing fresh life to exploration games. The narrative balances light-heartedness with darker themes, offering a nuanced yet accessible story, while not groundbreaking, it respects the audience's intelligence.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Expectation vs. Reality with Free Pulls Announcement In this chapter, the author discusses the engaging and enticing nature of clothing customization in video games, particularly highlighting the game 'Nikki' for its stunning and detailed clothing options. The author shares personal experiences with dress-up elements in games like The Sims and Red Dead Online, emphasizing the relaxation and enjoyment derived from such features. The chapter conveys the contrast between expectations and reality in gaming, using the excitement around 'free pulls' announcements as a contextual backdrop.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Version 1.5 Update Excitement Infold, a game developer, recognized a gap in the gaming market, particularly in games appealing to women. Despite acknowledging that women enjoy various game genres, Infold saw an underrepresented segment in the market that caters specifically to women's interests. Their approach emphasizes humility and inclusivity, aiming to create games that fill this gap without isolating other audiences.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Release of Dye System This chapter discusses the strategic approach of a company focused on creating games that appeal specifically to women by hiring women. Over 70% of the company's employees are women, reflecting a calculated strategy by the founder. The chapter also touches on common perceptions of corporations as predatory due to lack of competition and examines how the founder overcame personal biases and used rational, objective logic to make impactful decisions.
• 04:00 - 04:30: Story Retcon and Its Impact The chapter discusses the unexpected actions of a company that was anticipated to behave rationally and objectively. Ahead of a major update, the company, Infold, set marketing goals linked to wishlists on the Steam platform. They promised players 10 free pulls for reaching 100,000 wishlists but later attempted to alter the offer, providing only two pulls for 100,000 and reserving full rewards for a higher target.
• 04:30 - 05:00: Problems with Storytelling The chapter titled 'Problems with Storytelling' discusses the controversial changes made by a game's developers, which were initially forgotten but later implemented, leading to widespread community anger. The outcry forced the developers to backtrack and offer better rewards, showcasing their responsiveness to feedback. The discussion also touches upon the release of the version 1.5 update in April 2025, which, despite generating excitement due to its Steam launch, faced numerous issues.
• 05:00 - 05:30: Community Frustration with Retcon The chapter discusses the community's frustration concerning recent retcons in an unspecified context. These retcons were packaged as part of a major update that promised exciting new features like a co-op mode and a free miracle outfit similar to an archon or sentinel. The update also included additional color options for outfits and was marketed as a significant optimization for mobile users. Importantly, a highly anticipated feature was the ability to dye outfits, which previously came in only limited color options. However, the update's implementation has triggered discontent among the community.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Bugs and Issues with Version 1.5 Update The update introduces a new dye system that allows players to recolor individual items in dozens of colors, first trialed in a previous patch event. This feature significantly enhances customization and creativity in the game, particularly in creating outfits. However, problems arose immediately upon opening the game after updating.
• 06:00 - 06:30: Opening Tutorial and Co-op Features Problems In this chapter, the unexpected disruption caused by a retcon is explored, which negates the original storyline of a game. Both new players and experienced ones are forced into a new introductory tutorial, where an unfamiliar goddess reveals to Nikki that she is an amnesiac space traveler. This reboot also erases everything from the original opening sequence from Nikki's memory. The new story is described as disorganized and unrelatable, failing to establish a coherent foundation.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Monetization and Dye Feature The chapter discusses the ineffective introduction of a character named Nikki and her sidekick, highlighting the failure to engage the audience emotionally. The storyline seems to lack significance as it presents a world where cataclysmic events are common and Nikki, being immortal, can effortlessly escape to another universe. It describes how this scenario renders everything meaningless, exemplifying a common storytelling pitfall where broader scope and higher stakes do not necessarily equate to a more compelling narrative.
• 07:00 - 07:30: Change in Gacha System The chapter discusses the change in the gacha system, emphasizing the human tendency to connect emotionally with individual stories rather than large abstract concepts. It highlights the struggle people face in comprehending the suffering of thousands compared to understanding a single relatable story. Additionally, the chapter critiques the new opening sequence of the game, describing it as inferior to the original. The old version effectively introduced core gameplay mechanics within the narrative, which the new sequence fails to accomplish.
• 07:30 - 08:00: Increase in Gacha System Costs The chapter discusses the issues surrounding the increase in costs associated with gacha systems in games. It highlights the community's dissatisfaction with not only the rising expenses but also with the occasional glitches in game graphics, such as clipping. Further, it delves into the negative reception of retcon (retroactive continuity) within game narratives, where developers may discard or alter story elements that fans have invested in over time. This can lead to players feeling alienated as their emotional and time investment in the game story can seem undermined.
• 08:00 - 08:30: Bathtub Pricing Issue The chapter titled 'Bathtub Pricing Issue' explores the emotional impact and narrative changes introduced in a game. The removal of a beloved feature without prior announcement has upset fans, particularly those who cherished its quirky narrative and enchanting atmosphere. The protagonist, Nikki, existed in a dream-like world where the magical clothing was central to the story. The reconditioning appears to aim at introducing alternate universes, hinting at a new multiplayer feature.
• 08:30 - 09:00: Changes to Mirror Crown and Community Reactions The chapter discusses changes to the game's Mirror Crown and the reactions from its community. It highlights the unnecessary attempt to make co-op mode canon in the game's lore, which was considered bizarre by many. The chapter suggests that explanations involving alternate universes or dream scenarios would have sufficed, as they are common tropes in sci-fi and fantasy genres. It hints at possible deeper motivations behind these changes and notes a shift in the game's marketing away from a 'cozy' label.
• 09:00 - 09:30: Community's Unified Reaction The community is united in their reaction to a recent update of a game, which they believe was a grave mistake. Many are calling for the developers to revert the changes, fearing that failure to do so could result in significant loss of players and potentially the game's early termination. Additionally, the update introduced numerous bugs, undermining the game's previously stable performance, despite its high level of detail.
• 09:30 - 10:00: Response to Boycott and Content Creators' Silence The chapter discusses the technical issues faced by players after a major update in a game. Initially, the game had a smooth launch, with minor issues such as camera rotation controls being problematic for a brief period and some players losing their in-game photos. However, after the 1.5 update, a significant portion of the player base was unable to log in, with problems persisting for at least a week. Those who could access the game encountered severe technical difficulties, including frequent crashes rendering the game unplayable. The situation is compared to a notoriously problematic game launch, indicating the severity of the issues.
• 10:00 - 10:30: Infold's Apology and Guarantees In the chapter titled 'Infold's Apology and Guarantees', the players experience a myriad of technical issues while playing the game. These issues range from stuttering and lagging to complete loss of server connection multiple times a minute. The game controls become unresponsive and require frequent restarts, especially when the main character, Nikki, fails to respond. Menus cause the game to freeze, and numerous UI bugs appear throughout the game. The friend list system malfunctioned, erasing friendships from accounts. Additionally, quests are either broken, inexplicably locked, or missing voiceovers that were available previously.
• 10:30 - 11:00: Inadequacy of Apology This chapter discusses the technical issues faced by players in a game, focusing on the frequent failures of cutscenes to trigger. Such glitches result in a softlock situation where players are unable to progress or complete quests. Particularly frustrating is the softlock in the unskippable opening tutorial, which prevents new players from even starting the game. The chapter also alludes to the disappointing performance of highly anticipated co-op features, adding to the frustration of the gaming experience.
• 11:00 - 11:30: Developers vs. Executives The chapter 'Developers vs. Executives' discusses the challenges faced by developers in maintaining a video game that has been significantly impacted by updates. Players who have invested money and time into the game, such as spending £100 on in-game items, feel disappointed due to persistent bugs and issues. While developers are diligently working to stabilize the game and have made improvements, the progress remains insufficient to fully resolve the game's problems. The narrative highlights the disconnect between the developers' efforts and the players' expectations, illustrating a broader tension between the operational execution and the executive or business decisions impacting the game's quality.
• 11:30 - 12:00: Conclusion and Open Questions The chapter discusses the issues and ironic circumstances surrounding a recent game update, which was supposed to include optimizations but instead led to significant, unresolved problems for players. The new monetization feature, particularly the dying mechanic, was introduced with great anticipation. However, it currently falls short due to the scarce availability of necessary materials, which are not farmable and can only be obtained through specific events.

The worst gacha update ever made? What are the Infinity Nikki execs thinking! Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 One of my favorite games managed to destroy its goodwill in the space of just a few days. While the rest of the gacha space is forever on fire for various reasons, Infinity Nikki had been an oasis of calm. It was never going to last since these games tend to start off with a bang to attract new players and then slowly degrade over time. But a mere 5monl long honeymoon period was far shorter than anyone would have guessed. If you think the state of Wua, Genshin, Star Rail, or any of the others has been bad, Infinity Nikki right now makes all
• 00:30 - 01:00 those other situations look kind of chill. Some might argue that it's bad to highlight this whole thing, but I think that's shortsighted. I love this game and I want it to thrive. And for that to happen, Infold needs to hear the concerns of their players. The more people who are aware of it, the better. Before we get into the details, let's give a little context for anyone unfamiliar. Infinity Nikki is an openw world dressup gacha game. Unlike the other open world gachas, it has very basic combat and instead its focus is on cozy exploration in an absolutely
• 01:00 - 01:30 incredible open world puzzles which range from relaxing to challenging and very in-depth clothing and fashion systems. You don't pull for characters or weapons. You pull for dresses, hats, jackets, skirts, jeans. You get the idea. It has a story and the setup was appropriately whimsical. It started with Nikki and her companion Momo searching for clothes in her attic. She finds one of her mother's dresses, but it comes to life and pulls the two of them into a portal in a cupboard. They wake up in an alternate universe where clothes have magical powers and people with a sense
• 01:30 - 02:00 of style are respected and revered. This was very Narnia coded, and it perfectly set the tone right from the opening scene. Everything about the game was chill, beautiful, and just an absolute delight to spend your time in. While I am a sucker for exciting combat and love games which have more of a focus on that kind of gameplay, I enjoy other types of games just as much and Nikki was basically made for me. I didn't have time to make a review when it first came out. And while it's been near the top of my to-do list ever since, other more pressing things kept coming first. In
• 02:00 - 02:30 terms of genre, I'd actually say it's closest to the legendary 3D platformers of old. It echoes Spyro in particular. I've had so much fun with the platforming mechanics, and the boss fights in particular feel like an evolution of those ideas which have been left untouched by exploration games for far too long. The story did a fantastic job of remaining light-hearted and whimsical while still diving into darker themes with surprising levels of nuance. It wasn't the height of storytelling, but it still managed to stand out and seemed to trust the audience more than
• 02:30 - 03:00 other catches. And I absolutely loved the dressup side of things. I have spent countless hours playing The Sims, and I always get sucked into clothing customization in any game. Back when I played Red Dead Online, I happily spent half an hour at a time in the dressing room before actually going out to shoot some cowboys. The clothes in Nikki are absolutely stunning with a level of detail and craft to them, which is legitimately breathtaking at times, and they're actually relevant to the gameplay. I often want a game which will help me just relax, and Nikki was perfect for that. It's also worth noting
• 03:00 - 03:30 why I generally had higher expectations for Infold than I do for other developers. Their founder looked at the games being published and saw that there was a gap. None of the other companies seem to think about what kinds of games would appeal to women in particular. That's an entire half of the potential market which was being mostly ignored. And that isn't to say this game is just for women or that women don't like all kinds of games. But there was a huge gap in the market for exactly this sort of game. And he was humble enough to recognize that the best people to design
• 03:30 - 04:00 games to appeal to women would be women themselves. And he built his company with that in mind to the point that right now over 70% of the employees at the company are women. This was a logical and calculated strategy and it worked. I still expected them to act like any corporation. Their gutas do have a reputation for being on the predatory side after all, likely because they don't really have much competition. But since its founder was able to look past his bias and apply rational objective logic to the state of the industry at large in order to find a
• 04:00 - 04:30 niche which was underserved, I kind of expected the company to continue to be more rational and objective than average. So what happened? As an appetizer before the main cause, we got a little preview of what was to come a few weeks before the update dropped. Infold announced that they would give everyone 10 free pulls if the game reached a 100,000 wish lists on Steam, plus an extra surprise for 200,000 wish lists. Once they reached the goal, they tried to change their minds and sent out only two pulls for the 100k with the 10 pulls saved for the higher target and
• 04:30 - 05:00 the surprise forgotten completely, but this change made the community incredibly angry. The backlash quickly made them backtrack and give out 20 pulls for the combined goals instead. Devs listened, I guess. The version 1.5 update was released at the end of April 2025, a little less than 5 months after the initial release, and it has been a mess on so many levels. The community was so excited for this patch at first. For one thing, this update would see the game release on Steam, making it accessible to a whole new audience. In
• 05:00 - 05:30 addition, it was going to be a truly major update. The brand new co-op mode looked like it would be a ton of fun. Our new miracle outfit was coming out, kind of similar to an archon or sentinel in terms of importance, but always available for free. We were getting extra colors for four and five star outfits, and the devs were touting it as a big optimization update for mobile users in particular. The new feature I was most excited for was the ability to dye outfits. Up until now, most outfits in the game came in two to four different colors, and you obtained those
• 05:30 - 06:00 different colors by pulling duplicates via the gutter system. The dye system had been trialled in an event in a previous patch, and it provides so much flexibility by letting us recolor any individual item to any of dozens of different colors. It's hard to emphasize to outsiders how awesome that idea is. Half of the fun of the game comes from the joy of creating outfits, and having exponentially more swatches at our fingertips would unlock so much creativity. Unfortunately, the moment we opened the game after the update, we
• 06:00 - 06:30 were all confronted by something completely unexpected. A retcon, which rendered the entirety of the original story pointless. New players and veterans alike were shoved into a new intro tutorial the moment they opened the game, which clumsily introduced an unfamiliar goddess who tells Nikki that she's actually an amnesiac space traveler and her world has been destroyed. And of course, everything the original player saw in that OG opening sequence was just wiped from her memory. Worse, the replacement story was disjointed and awkward. It fails to ground itself in anything relatable. It
• 06:30 - 07:00 does a poor job of introducing Nikki and her sidekick, and it just fundamentally fails at giving us any reason to care. The destruction of the world, which she no longer remembers, doesn't even matter at all because stuff like that now just happens all the time. Nikki is immortal and at any point she can just peace out and go to a fresh universe. So, literally everything now feels empty and pointless. This is a perfect example of an age-old trap in storytelling. People think that the wider scope and higher stakes will make for a more impactful story. But humans struggle to
• 07:00 - 07:30 emotionally connect to large concepts like the world is at risk and instead feel far more emotion towards individuals whose story is relatable. We struggle to visualize the suffering of thousands of people. But the moment we hear just one story, it puts everything into a context we can instinctively understand. I wish people would learn this lesson. It even falls flat as a tutorial. The original opening sequence steadily introduced the core gameplay mechanics in a way which felt natural, logical, and tightly integrated into the narrative. The new one is objectively worse. The new opening sequence is at
• 07:30 - 08:00 least visually stunning, but even the graphics are a little glitchy at times with some very obvious clipping, and in the end, the vast majority of fans just despise the fact that it exists. And just think about the idea of a retcon for a minute. Whether you play Genshin, Wuwa, Starill, or anything else, how would you feel if you got invested in the story over the course of several months and then the dev suddenly said, "Sorry, we're telling a different story now, and none of that stuff you cared about really happened." Even people who were only half interested would probably
• 08:00 - 08:30 be upset, and the people who actually liked it would be devastated, and they didn't even announce that anything like this was coming. I had always loved the gentle absurdity of Nikki waking up in this land where clothes have magical powers and taking it upon herself to solve this crazy calm apocalypse plaguing the world. The game had this beautiful ethereal quality. The story, the landscapes, the magic, even the light and floaty way that Nikki moves. The whole thing felt like a dream. The reccon's main purpose seems to be to introduce the idea of alternate universes so that the multiplayer system
• 08:30 - 09:00 fits in the lore of the world. It's bizarre that they felt the need to do that in the first place. Co-op doesn't need to be canon, but if they really insist everyone and their mother's dog understands the idea of alternate universes in any sci-fi or fantasy, it doesn't need an explanation. Or if they had just leaned into the dream aspect as the explanation, then literally nobody would have cared. In a dream, anything goes. It may have had a deeper motivation. However, some have noted that they no longer market the game as cozy and may instead have hoped to bring
• 09:00 - 09:30 in a wider audience. If that's the truth, then whoever made that decision just flat out made a huge mistake. Many in the community legitimately want the devs to roll back the update. If they don't, I would be unsurprised if the game loses so many players that it prematurely reaches end of service. And that was just the beginning. This update also unleashed a biblical plague of bugs into the game. Up until now, it had been impressively stable. Despite the incredible level of detail, especially when it came to the clothes, the game
• 09:30 - 10:00 was smooth and reliable. And the worst I personally experienced was the rotation controls in the camera mode being broken for a few weeks one time. Some people had their in-game photos wiped at one point, but for the most part, it was a solid launch. After 1.5, a huge chunk of players couldn't even log into the game, and many are still unable to a week after the update. Those of us who can log in have to deal with an absolute mess. Think WubO launch day level technical issues, but worse. For some, the game just constantly crashes and is completely unplayable. For the rest of
• 10:00 - 10:30 us, it stutters and lags, and at its worst, it takes a second to reconnect to servers many times per minute. Sometimes, the controls simply stop working in game. I've had to restart my game many times after Nikki stopped responding to controller inputs. The game sometimes freezes when just looking at menus. There have been countless UI bugs across every corner of the game, and the friendless system outright deleted friendships from a lot of people's accounts. The quests are broken for many. Some are inexplicably locked. Many are entirely missing voiceovers which had previously existed. And
• 10:30 - 11:00 cutscenes often fail to trigger, preventing people from completing things. For many who had a cut scene fail to load, the game is effectively softlocked. They can load up and run around, but they can't do anything now because they're stuck in a quest which fails to end. For some players, the opening tutorial got softlocked, and since it's completely unskippable, they were effectively unable to even start the game. What a wonderful welcome that must have been for new players excited to finally try it. And of course, even if you did manage to get into the game, those much hyped co-op features, which everyone had been excited for, just
• 11:00 - 11:30 pretty much did not work at all. And for those of us who played from the start and spent money on the game, I spent £100 on this dress because the game had brought me so much joy and the outfit was just sublime. After the update, the dress is bugged. It no longer looks the way it should. This is a minor issue compared to the dumpster fire that is the rest of the game right now, but it really feels like a punch in the gut. The poor devs have been working hard to fix the issues, and the game has become noticeably more stable for me in the past week, but it's still a far cry from
• 11:30 - 12:00 how great it ran before this update, and many people are still experiencing gamebreaking issues. It's especially ironic after they hyped up the optimizations they made for this patch. And then there's the monetization. First off, that awesome new dying feature that I mentioned, which unlocks so much scope for creativity and customization in the game. In the event which trial the mechanic, you unlock dyes by collecting materials from the open world. Now that it's a real thing, the materials are rare and currently not farmable. You get them as a reward for certain events and
• 12:00 - 12:30 quests. Or you can buy them with real world money. Worse, each color plet isn't unlocked per set. It's per item. At this point, a collector like me will have several hundred items in the game, and that collection will only increase over time. So, we're talking thousands of swatches available. And if you want to unlock all of the plets, you also need to have the highest evolution of that item. That means that in addition to the premium materials you have to buy with real world money, you also need to pull for duplicates of the outfit too if you want to be allowed to buy the plets
• 12:30 - 13:00 at all. That means that if you want to have full use of this feature, you'd have to buy hundreds or even thousands of premium items. And if you're free to play, good luck with that. This feature that everyone was so excited about ended up being insanely expensive. But that wasn't even the biggest problem people had. To understand the implications of the change that many players are most upset by, we'll have to quickly explain the game's gacha system. Each outfit has a certain number of items: a dress, a necklace, shoes, socks, and so on. Most
• 13:00 - 13:30 fivestar outfits have 9 to 10 items, for example. When you pull, you're guaranteed to get one of these items every 20 pulls. And you're also guaranteed to not get any duplicates until you've collected the entire set. Soft pity is very high. Most of the time it takes around 18 pulls per five-star item. That means that for every fancy five-star outfit, it takes up to 200 pulls to get the full set. With soft pity set so high, it was already far less generous than the more popular open world gutters. Despite the slightly lower cost of 120 premium currency per
• 13:30 - 14:00 compared to the usual 160. To make it feel less painful, the game included a system where you collect some rewards for every other 10 pull, which softened the blow. As I mentioned earlier, there are four different color versions of each five-star outfit. You get the second color through this extra reward system after pulling 180 times on the banner, and you get the third after 230 pulls. Still a lot of pulls, but compared to the duplicate systems in other games, it wasn't actually all that bad. The fourth version, however, you get only via the gutter system. So, to
• 14:00 - 14:30 get all four colors, it cost up to 400 pulls. It is worth noting that you're not required to pull the entire outfit to use any individual piece, but you do need every piece if you want to use any special ability it provides, and you can't unlock the fourth color for individual items. So, you need the full second set to get those colors. Also, player statistics have suggested that the pull rates for the most valuable pieces, the hair and the dress, for example, may be lower, and you're more likely to get them much later on. So,
• 14:30 - 15:00 what did they change in this update? They introduced two outfits with 11 items. According to speculation, based on some cinematics that they quietly updated, it was originally going to be 10. But at the last minute, they added some extra socks, which you can't even see when the dress is equipped. This would be the equivalent of those other games adding a new character who is not any more powerful than the others, but cost an extra 20 poles to get. People were understandably livid. This increase also means that the premium color palletes are even more expensive than
• 15:00 - 15:30 they might have been already. This game is already quite expensive even for a gacha since the company has zero competition for its target audience. This new outfits increased price felt like a slap in the face and people are understandably concerned that this would be just the beginning. What would stop them from adding outfits with even more items in the future? Their other games have had outfits with 17 pieces after all. They also added a bathtub, a mostly cosmetic item, which costs $10, but with a label saying its original price is
• 15:30 - 16:00 $50, and proclaiming an 80% discount. This is illegal where I live. The game doesn't even have a housing system yet, so it's bizarre that they're adding furniture at all, let alone making it cost realorld money, and that fake discount is unacceptable. This detail might sound like a small issue, and they did remove the misleading messaging, but it's jarring to see these kinds of tactics added to the game. It's reminiscent of the worst aspects of the industry and it sets a very worrying precedent going forward. They also changed the mirror crown, a repeatable
• 16:00 - 16:30 styling challenge which is the closest thing Nikki has to an end game. They left the game play intact and it gives us the same amount of rewards as it did previously. However, while it used to refresh every 2 weeks after the update, it was set to refresh every 3 weeks instead. Essentially, that cut the free-to-play currency from the endgame by a third. They have since rolled back this partially so that it now refreshes on the 1st and 16th of every month, but people are still unhappy about this to say the least. It's quite something to see them cut the free-to-play rewards at the same time as they introduce so many
• 16:30 - 17:00 things designed to make us reach into our wallets. Naturally, the Nikki community is in uproar. Almost every part of the community has been flooded with complaints. And as people learned about the redcon, the bugs, and the changes to the gacha system, their anger built up more and more. Many looked for a way to express their displeasure to the devs in the most effective way possible and calls for a boycott of the game quickly gained traction. Advocating for people to hold back on pulling for the new outfit, at least for the first 3 days since that will greatly affect the
• 17:00 - 17:30 revenue projections until they were deleted. Of course, on the official Discord and Reddit, as well as in the comments under their official post on their platforms, any comments or messages or posts which mentioned the boycott immediately disappeared. Players quickly shifted to the term girl cut instead, and the cycle repeated itself. Some people were even getting banned from mentioning it. This is probably the first time I've seen a global gacha community this united for a cause. There are, of course, still people who defend the corporations and call the players entitled, greedy, and spoiled. But for
• 17:30 - 18:00 the first time, we're witnessing real unification and collective effort with all regions completely in agreement. The one place which isn't quite so vocal is the content creator sphere. While each creator in one of the Nikki programs may have signed a unique NDA, which could prevent them from speaking out, everyone I've seen for any game is entirely focused on protecting confidential information only and would not prevent sharing of an honest opinion about information which is public. If any company ever tried that, I would just refuse to sign unless it changed.
• 18:00 - 18:30 Chances are the creators are keeping quiet on their own accord. Maybe because they haven't experienced bugs nor worry about pool costs. Or maybe they're worried about some potential consequences in the future if they do speak out. Or maybe they just do not want to cover anything which feels too negative. I am in one of these programs due to my Twitch streams and I have also been collecting my thoughts for a review video which would have absolutely glazed the hell out of this game as one of my favorite games and explained why even people who could not care less about the idea of dressup might have actually
• 18:30 - 19:00 enjoyed large parts of the game. But I would have felt uncomfortable covering this game at all anymore without making this video first. Personally, I don't see this as spreading negativity. It's about spreading awareness. It's vital to be unbiased and objective when our favorite games mess up. And it's important to demand better treatment and the respect we deserve. If I end up getting kicked out of the program because of this, or even locked out of future opportunities, then that would speak volumes. After all, if we want the game to survive, they need to fix this.
• 19:00 - 19:30 Happy players become happy spenders if they can. If we care about the future of this game, the last thing we should do is keep silent. As to Infall's response so far, well, you've seen a little preview of it already in how they handled the calls for Boy or Girl Cot. They posted an apology letter on Twitter, which started off with a statement of their vision for the new direction of the game and an acknowledgement that they fell short of expectations. They recognized the issues with performance and crashes and mentioned that their teams have been working immediately to address the
• 19:30 - 20:00 issues. They mentioned fixing over a 100 bugs so far, including a list of several important ones along with another list of others which will be high priority in the next few days. Then they clarified a few things. The one which many people cared about the most was the increase to the max pity on the banners. And here they started off with a long justification for why they did this, followed by an apology that they didn't announce the change before making it. They guaranteed that new five-star outfits will not exceed 11 items and any
• 20:00 - 20:30 future changes will be communicated in advance. They then announced the tweaked to the Mirror Crown Endgame mode, confirming that the mode will now reset on the 1st and 16th of every month. For the dying feature, they simply stated that they're working on a more advanced feature in the future, which includes further customization options and richer visual effects. They gave out the traditional gachapology reward, 10 limited pools, 10 standard pools, and 10 pools worth of currency, and finished off with a hopeful message asking for one more chance. All of this was sadly unsatisfactory. The part about the
• 20:30 - 21:00 five-star outfits was the worst offender. The way they worded it seemed consiliatory. But if you actually read what they said, it confirms that the outfits with 11 items are here to stay and that if they feel like going further in the future, all they said they'll do is tell us first. They did not reference what people actually want them to do to fix this. Guarantee that regardless of how many items an outfit contains, it will never require more than 180 PS to complete. Sadly, it looks like this won't happen. The other part skirted the
• 21:00 - 21:30 point as well. The Mirror Crown announcement had no acknowledgement that this is a reduction in player rewards compared to how things worked previously and the dying feature statement is irrelevant to the actual problems people have with the way it's currently structured. This was a non-apology which does not address the actual issues people have. I do not expect much from gacha companies, but even I'm disappointed. I'm still willing to give them another chance, but only if they actually address all of our concerns. It's worth noting that the kinds of decisions which have torpedoed this update are generally not in the hands of
• 21:30 - 22:00 the developers and instead are controlled entirely by executives. The developers, meanwhile, will be working overtime to fix the issues which were likely caused by this gigantic change in direction. They're victims of this as much as the players are. Most of the bugs I've encountered personally have been fixed now that we're a week or so from the update. And from a technical perspective, they're cleaning up the mess. is now up to the executives to decide whether they care enough to clear up the rest. I love this game with my entire heart. To me, Infinity Nikki has
• 22:00 - 22:30 been a perfect game from day one, catering to all my needs for cozy, magical world that lets me escape from all the stress and worries of real life and an outlet for creativity with putting together gorgeous outfits and organizing beautiful photooots. I want this game to continue being successful and it breaks my heart to see them seemingly throw away all that they had built. The question which echoes inside my head is why? Predatory mechanics are par for the cause in any gacha game, but the speed at which they're making them worse is shocking. While the bugs are an
• 22:30 - 23:00 unfortunate and inexplicable own goal, at least they're fixing those. But why would a company take a successful story with a thriving community who love it and just delete the whole damn thing? So far, I can't even imagine any answers. Until next time.