Infinity Nikki Drama Explained: March 2026 Controversy Guide

The once-beloved fashion RPG Infinity Nikki has found itself at the center of multiple controversies that have shaken its global community to its core. From deceptive pricing tactics to regional favoritism, the game that once represented a refreshing take on gacha mechanics now faces an unprecedented player revolt. If you’re wondering what’s causing all the drama surrounding this previously celebrated title, you’ve come to the right place.

Infinity Nikki is facing massive backlash due to fake discount pricing (illegal in some regions), giving Chinese players exclusive rewards while ignoring global players, dramatically increasing gacha costs with 11-piece outfits, story retconning, and censoring player criticism. The controversies have led to organized boycotts, negative Steam reviews, and a dramatic drop in player trust.

Infinity Nikki Controversies Overview

The current crisis didn’t happen overnight. Here’s a breakdown of the major issues that have transformed Infinity Nikki from a community darling into a cautionary tale:

Controversy Type	Impact Level	Player Response	Status
Fake Discount Pricing	High	Legal concerns raised	Ongoing
Regional Favoritism	Very High	Global boycotts	Ongoing
11-Piece Outfit System	Extreme	Mass boycotts	Implemented
Story Retconning	High	Community outrage	Developer apology issued
Currency Deduction Bug	Medium	Negative reviews	Partially resolved
Censorship of Criticism	High	“Girlcott” movement	Ongoing

The Fake Discount Scandal: When “Deals” Aren’t Real?

The most recent controversy involves misleading pricing tactics. A while ago, the game listed an in-game bathtub item with a so-called “80% discount,” pricing it at $10 — down from a supposed $70. The problem? That bathtub was never actually sold for $70. It was released at the discounted price, making the original cost completely made up.

This practice isn’t just ethically questionable—it’s potentially illegal in many regions. False price reductions are banned by the 2022 EU Omnibus Directive and the USA’s Section 5 of the FTC Act of 1914, which both prohibit fake discounts designed to pressure consumers into purchasing and require those discounts to be based on a real, prior price from the last 30 days.

What Makes This Worse?

Eventually, the devs removed the “discount” label, but the damage was done. Now, it seems they’ve done it again. Another item appeared with a similar “discount” tag, sparking even more anger. This pattern suggests the developers either don’t understand the legal implications or are deliberately continuing these practices despite the backlash.

The bathtub incident is particularly egregious because these decorations are even more preposterous – the bathtub was 70 dollars with a -79% off price tag stamped on, falsifying a good deal under a very thin pretence indeed. Absolutely nobody was falling for it.

Regional Favoritism: Chinese Players Get Special Treatment

One of the most damaging controversies involves blatant regional favoritism. Just recently, Infinity Nikki gave away a free 10-pull and extra rewards — but only to Chinese players. Global users got nothing, despite having their own milestones and player base. What’s worse, Chinese players reportedly still benefit from global events like Steam milestones.

The Pattern of Exclusion

This isn’t an isolated incident. Unfortunately, as pointed out by shirasakirin on the main subreddit for Infinity Nikki, only Chinese players could redeem them. While many Infinity Nikki fans contacted support to provide feedback and express dissatisfaction, Infold responded by stating that international players would receive valid redemption codes at a later date.

The problem runs deeper than just codes. It should be noted that the Nikki franchise has neglected its international community several times in the past, and as such, has been the target of various boycotts.

The 11-Piece Outfit Catastrophe: When Greed Goes Too Far?

Perhaps the most game-breaking change came with Version 1.5’s introduction of 11-piece outfits. Previously, most 5-star outfits contained 8-10 pieces, but the new system pushed this to 11 pieces for premium outfits.

The Math Behind the Outrage

Infold Games recently announced, as part of the Infinity Nikki 1.5 update, that all future dresses will be broken up into 11 pieces. Because of this, players will now have to buy a maximum of 220 pulls in order to get a complete dress, which makes the outfits a lot more pricey.

To put this in perspective:

• Old system: 8-10 pieces = 160-200 pulls maximum
• New system: 11 pieces = 220 pulls maximum
• Cost increase: Up to 37.5% more expensive per outfit

Both of the new Infinity Nikki banners, for example, contain two 5-star outfits that sport a record 11 pieces to collect. That’s a maximum of 220 pulls, or 26,400 diamonds just to complete one outfit.

Story Retconning: Erasing Beloved Characters

According to furious players, Infold has “retconned” the RPG’s opening tutorial story section in the latest update. The developers completely replaced the original opening sequence with a new “Sea of Stars” chapter, fundamentally altering the game’s narrative foundation.

What Players Lost

The retconning had significant consequences:

• Beloved character Ena was relegated to a minor side role
• The overall tone of the game shifted dramatically
• Many find this new opening to be a massive downgrade over the original, in large part because it relegates the popular quest-exclusive character, Ena, to a minor side role, and completely changes the tone of the game.

Developer Response

In its statement, the Infold team explains that their intention was never to replace the original story altogether, that the change was made due to technical drawbacks, and that the missing content will still be part of the game at a later point.

However, many players view this as damage control rather than a genuine explanation.

The “Girlcott” Movement: When Boycotts Get Creative?

When Infold Games allegedly began censoring the word “boycott” from their official forums and Discord servers, the predominantly female player base got creative. Over on the Infinity Nikki subreddit, players vented their frustrations at the studio for banning boycott from their socials. “Aint no way. We need codewords girlies. Like really ridiculous codewords that feel awful to ban. GirlSolidarity, GirlFightBack” one user posted.

The Birth of “Girlcott”

This new girlcott development is notable, as Infinity Nikki has a large female player base. In fact, according to some surveys, it could be as close as 70% of the game’s active community. So, the use of “girlcott” is now becoming a rallying cry for the fandom to voice their discontent.

The movement gained traction across multiple platforms:

• Reddit threads using coded language to avoid detection
• As players began to use the in-game Infinity Nikki photo feature to spotlight the #girlcott hashtag.
• Creative in-game messaging to communicate dissent

Technical Disasters and Currency Theft

Version 1.5 wasn’t just controversial for its monetization changes—it was also a technical disaster. Version 1.5 “Bubble Season” launched on April 29 and immediately introduced a number of bugs and issues to the game, Eurogamer reports. Players reportedly had issues with the game crashing or failing to load entirely, and also experienced issues with multiplayer gameplay.

The Currency Scandal

Perhaps most insulting to players was how Infold handled an accidental currency bug. During the update, players were accidentally receiving twice as many Crystals as they were supposed to. Rather than letting players keep this accidental bounty, Infold has removed all erroneously obtained Stars and Shards, leaving some players with a negative balance.

Many fans feel the decision is unfairly penalizing the fanbase for the developer’s error. Reddit user NuuclearPasta voices their displeasure at Infold’s behavior in a Reddit post that has amassed nearly 3,000 likes and growing, asking: “What’s wrong with this company, punishing players for their own mistake?”

Steam Launch: A Recipe for Disaster

The timing of these controversies couldn’t have been worse. The controversial update released on the same day Infinity Nikki launched on Steam, meaning the game’s Steam reviews are currently mostly negative, with the reviews now a laundry list of players’ frustrations with the direction of the game.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Amid the ongoing update controversy, Infinity Nikki’s Steam rating has dropped to over 50% negative, one of the lowest points of all time. As noted by some fans on Reddit, InFold Games’ once-beloved open-world RPG now holds just 47% positive reviews, highlighting the community’s growing frustration with recent developer decisions.

Player engagement has also plummeted dramatically:

• SteamDB data shows that just a week after its Steam launch, the player count dropped by 56%. Although it initially crossed 200,000 wishlists on Steam, Infinity Nikki now sees only around 2,000 active players on the platform.

Chinese Players Lead the Charge

Interestingly, some of the strongest opposition has come from Chinese players themselves. The Chinese Infinity Nikki community immediately called for boycotts on social media apps such as Red Note. However, international fans quickly took notice and wanted to join their fellow players overseas in protesting the game.

The Chinese Infinity Nikki community took their boycott of the gacha game to the official Steam forums. Over on the site, they flooded it with threads warning new players not to download the RPG.

Some examples of their messaging include:

• “Avoid Infinity Nikki! A rushed, greedy, and disappointing game!”
• “Do not play — this game does not respect the opinions of players.”
• “DO NOT GET! THIS GAME MAKES YOU UNFORTUNATE.”

Developer Response: Too Little, Too Late?

After weeks of silence, Infold Games finally issued an official response. Infold finally gave players an answer on April 17, 2025, apologizing for the disastrous launch of Version 1.5 and compensating all Infinity Nikki accounts with up to 960 Diamonds.

The Compensation Package

Players will be able to redeem 120 Diamonds and one Energy Crystal every day from June 5-12, for a total of 960 Diamonds and eight Energy Crystals. Players will also receive 360 Starlit Crystals as compensation for the Starlit Pursuit feature being pushed back until Version 1.6.

However, many players view this compensation as insufficient given the scale of the problems and the trust that has been broken.

Why This Matters: The Broader Implications

The Infinity Nikki controversy represents more than just another gacha game scandal—it’s a case study in how quickly a beloved game can lose its community through poor decision-making and tone-deaf communication.

Legal Implications

The fake discount pricing could have serious legal ramifications:

• Potential violations of consumer protection laws in multiple jurisdictions
• Finally, gacha pulls require a clearly displayed probability rate in several countries, otherwise it’s considered an illegal gambling practice. Failing to disclose odds, as Infinity Nikki does, violates consumer transparency laws – such as in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Industry Impact

Even if you don’t care about gacha games, the Nikki drama, in my opinion, is important. It raises the question: What happens if a game’s player base says no? What happens when players are so upset that a game risks losing its entire community?

What’s Next for Infinity Nikki?

For now, it’s clear that Infinity Nikki is at a crossroads. The game still has potential, but if these patterns continue, more players will start turning their backs. What was once a refreshing title in the gacha space now risks becoming another cautionary tale.

The future of Infinity Nikki depends largely on whether Infold Games can:

1. Address the fundamental monetization issues
2. Restore trust with transparent communication
3. Treat all regional communities fairly
4. Fix the technical problems plaguing the game

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main controversy surrounding Infinity Nikki right now?

The current controversies include fake discount pricing, regional favoritism toward Chinese players, dramatically increased gacha costs with 11-piece outfits, story retconning, and censorship of player criticism. These issues have led to organized boycotts and negative reviews.

Is the fake discount pricing actually illegal?

Yes, in many regions. The EU Omnibus Directive and the USA’s Section 5 of the FTC Act both prohibit fake discounts that aren’t based on real, prior prices from the last 30 days. The practice violates consumer protection laws designed to prevent deceptive advertising.

Why are players using “girlcott” instead of “boycott”?

Players began using “girlcott” after Infold Games allegedly censored the word “boycott” from their official forums and Discord servers. The term became a creative workaround that also acknowledges the game’s predominantly female player base (approximately 70%).

How much more expensive are the new 11-piece outfits?

The new 11-piece system requires up to 220 pulls to complete an outfit, compared to the previous 160-200 pulls for 8-10 piece outfits. This represents a cost increase of up to 37.5% per outfit, or about 26,400 diamonds maximum per complete outfit.

Has Infold Games responded to the controversies?

Yes, Infold issued an official apology and offered compensation including 960 Diamonds and 8 Energy Crystals. However, many players consider this response insufficient given the scale of the problems and the fundamental issues that remain unaddressed.

Are Chinese players really getting special treatment?

Yes, there have been multiple documented instances of Chinese players receiving exclusive rewards, codes, and event access that global players don’t get, despite global players contributing to the same milestones and achievements that trigger these rewards.

Remember to check our Infinity Nikki redeem codes guide for the latest free rewards, and don’t miss our Blue Tears Season quest guides for current event content. Stay informed about all the latest developments in the world of gacha gaming!