Update: Spot Zero announced they would be changing their minds about redesigning the characters and will stand by their artists.
Crypto gacha game Spot Zero announced changes to their game and social media presence in response to feedback.
In a post on X, the official account for Spot Zero listed multiple changes in response to criticism saying:
We hear you. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention regarding recent character designs. Your feedback has led us to realize that regardless of our intended lore and backstory, the visual presentation of our characters has missed the mark and made many of you uncomfortable – and that’s not acceptable.
As a result, we are taking immediate action:
1. We will be removing controversial characters from social channels until further notice
2. We will revamp and rework affected characters to maintain our artistic vision while ensuring all characters are clearly and appropriately portrayed. For context, these characters are Yokai – immortal mystical beings who have already existed across millennia and retain their youthful appearance, in the story, to avoid alarming humans, the Yokai have assigned themselves assumed ages. But we now realize their true age and visual representation came out the wrong way and is unacceptable. We will rework these ASAP.
3. We will always continue to listen to player feedback and react promptly and professionally. The community is the lifeblood of our game and our biggest priority
Our game’s story involves supernatural beings with complex histories, but we recognize that this doesn’t override the importance of responsible character design. Our goal is to create a game that everyone can enjoy comfortably.
Spot Zero is far from the first gacha game to run afoul of censors, though usually the calls for censorship come from digital storefronts such as the Google Play Store. In contrast to Spot Zero, Blue Archive regularly responds to fan feedback to remove censorship and erroneous translations. Meanwhile Azur Lane has had to alter their artwork to comply with Google’s standards.
In response to their initial statement, fans quickly called out the company for caving to disingenuous critics who are impossible to “satisfy“.
Earlier today, Spot Zero posted a followup statement, claiming their initial post “muddied the waters”
Dear Spot Zero Community,
We’ve heard your voices loud and clear, and we want to address the concerns around our recent character design discussions especially from our true fans and core community. Our initial statement about amending the art may have muddied the waters, so let… pic.twitter.com/vZVTVOCNKz
— Spot Zero (@SpotZero_Game) February 21, 2025
Spot Zero has also been criticized for its usage of cryptocurrency as a reward and incentive for promotional events.
