Blue Archive fans object to gacha pity overhaul

Nexon’s mobile game Blue Archive removed its long-running 200-pull spark system and introduced a 50/50 pity mechanic during the 5.5th anniversary update in Japan. The update also added free summons and new swimsuit character variants.

Under the previous system each summon granted one point toward a 200-point spark. Players could exchange 200 points for a featured character or character fragments. Points continued to accumulate after a featured character was obtained, allowing players to plan for additional guaranteed units on the same banner.

The new pity mechanic gives players a chance to obtain a featured character within 100 pulls and guarantees a rate-up character by 200 pulls, but the pity counter resets to zero once a featured character is obtained. The system follows a 50/50 structure common in other gacha games.

Because the counter resets after obtaining a featured unit, players who want more than one copy on the same banner cannot carry over progress toward a second guaranteed unit. Community members warned that collecting multiple rate-up characters on banners with several limited units could require more summons than under the spark system.

User responses on community channels included written complaints. One player wrote, “Nexon has actually made the gacha worse.” Another posted, “Nexon greed claws finally butchered blue archive with the worst pity system ever.” Several players advised new or returning users to hold off on purchases until the practical cost of multiple copies is clearer.

The change arrived after a recent security incident known as the Koyukification hack, which had already drawn player attention. Nexon implemented the pity overhaul as part of the anniversary patch but has not published a detailed rationale for replacing the spark system.

The anniversary update featured limited-time recruitment banners and other festival additions in Japan; the developer did not specify exact timing for rollout in other regions in the update notes. Players continue to discuss the mechanical change on forums and social channels.