東方projectの二次創作ゲーム東方クロニカル零に関する騒動を取り急ぎまとめ

IceFairy @richard_effendi

I'm making a thread to compile what we've learned about the latest Touhou gacha game, Touhou Chronicle Zero, and why people are wary of it. A thread. x.com/gamebiznews/st…

gamebiz 【ゲーム業界ニュースサイト】 @gamebiznews

YUクリエイティブスタジオ、『東方クロニカル零』を24年冬に早期アクセス、25年初頭に正式サービスと発表…ノックノートから買い取って開発 gamebiz.jp/news/387786 #東方クロニカル零

2024-06-17 16:46:00

IceFairy @richard_effendi

Today on the 17th of June 2024, It was announced that the doujin circle YU Creative Studios managed to acquire a license to create a Touhou derivative work from Knocknote, a developer that has previously gotten in hot water with Touhou fans. pic.twitter.com/l2VnGTzgKC

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Previously in 2020, Knocknote made an announcement that they were going to develop a triple-A Touhou title, along with lofty goals of getting Touhou into e-sports thing. web.archive.org/web/2020091815… pic.twitter.com/dfEenr3AdB

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

However, the language they used did not do enough to disclose the fact that the games they'll be making were not official and merely derivative works. As a result, they got caught under fire from Touhou fans and had to release an apology (The apology has since been deleted), pic.twitter.com/w4Vrc0gkaH

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

After this, there was little information regarding the Touhou game they were going to make, merely mentioning that it was in development in their financial reports. pic.twitter.com/p9avtIP0Qu

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Do note, that while they mentioned that they turned a profit in 2022 after losing money in 2021, they haven't made any games yet. Meaning that whatever earnings they had in were most likely investments or loans. Furthermore, they also didn't release a financial statement in 2023. pic.twitter.com/pYcf1UMMdY

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

After no news throughout 2023, today Knocknote announced that they had sold their license to doujin circle, a doujin circle that is headed by none other than Knocknote's own CEO. Something that's noted in the announcement article itself. pic.twitter.com/En7DJ14KWJ

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

The announcement was met with much skepticism and suspicion, due to the previously mentioned incident in 2020. Furthermore, the promotional video they displayed was less than promising, featuring Sakuya throwing untextured knives in a blank void and Patchouli's unfinished rig. pic.twitter.com/zLyZr7jY2N

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

What's more, they also have a pre-registration gacha. Raising many people's eyebrows. The developers themselves were fairly aware of how sketchy this looks, as they pre-emptively provided an explanation on why this is technically okay and totally not against the guidelines. pic.twitter.com/Dp0qxaBYoq

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

What makes this pre-paid gacha so suspicious is the fact that they mention that they're doing it for the purposes of getting more funding for development, which makes it sound like it's some sort of crowdfunding attempt, which would be against the guidelines. pic.twitter.com/8kPsEellKW

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

In fact, it's so much like a crowdfunding attempt, that they even have pledge rewards, such as hacing your name in the credits, up to designing costumes for characters. Only worse, because you're not guaranteed any of these rewards, you have to get lucky with gacha to get them. pic.twitter.com/z4ApepVFlw

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

They knew exactly how suspicious this looks, so they already made an explanation on why this is not a crowdfunding. Though, as another user points out, their reasoning is very much a legal loophole similar to "pachinko is technically not gambling because you don't win money". pic.twitter.com/QiYdAG3XcK

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Many people have speculated that selling the rights to the CEO of the company and then holding this pre-registration gacha was an attempt to sidestep the guidelines and give themselves more leeway in getting funds, as a doujin circle has less restrictions than a company. pic.twitter.com/zaZ7uMMc8X

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

As if the pre-registration gacha crowdfunding attempt wasn't enough, they've also shown either a lack of care or a lack of resources/funding in this project. For example, their PV uses a sped up version of CloudJumper's arrangement of Bad Apple, with no credit in sight. pic.twitter.com/SrlgMyq1xI

IceFairy @richard_effendi

They also managed to misspell the names of certain characters. Spelling Mokou's name as Fujiwara Kou (missing a kanji). Rendering Shiki Eiki's name as Shikoku (mispress somehow?). Finally, making Suwako's name Ayanami Rei from Eva (I have no idea how this could have happened). pic.twitter.com/ZTr0yGhFJn

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

It's not just the stuff on the surface, even their Terms of Services seem to have been made without much care, being a copy and paste of Wuthering Waves' (another gacha game) Terms. We know this is a copy because they mention the Moon Phase Pass from Wuthering Waves. pic.twitter.com/jYLvNBk6P8

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Their privacy policy is also copy pasted from the Chinese developed Wuthering Waves, as a result, this Japanese company with 0 games under its belt for some reason has affiliations with companies from Hong Kong, China, and Singapore. pic.twitter.com/6gRPQ7VM6g

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Currently the main questions are whether or not the pre-registration gacha does count as crowdfunding and whether or not Knocknote was even legally allowed to just sell the license to their own CEO, as both definitely seem like attempts to skirt around the guidelines.

IceFairy @richard_effendi

For now, I will be keeping an eye on the situation. I'll update this thread should more information come to light. Thank you for reading.

IceFairy @richard_effendi

Making a small update regarding the new Touhou gacha, Touhou Cronicle Zero and the cancellation of their pre-registration (crowdfunding scam), as well as some other shady stuff they did that I missed yesterday. A thread. pic.twitter.com/0S9kGVzYeX x.com/touhou_kurozer…

東方クロニカル零公式（東方クロゼロ） @touhou_kurozero

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2024-06-18 15:12:56

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

Today on the 18th of June 2024, just one day after announcing their game as well as opening their pre-registration gacha (crowdfunding scam), The Touhou Chronicle Zero account announced that they will be pausing their gacha, but stating that the gacha data is safe, no refunds. pic.twitter.com/zcI8hddvDc

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IceFairy @richard_effendi

A mere 2 hours later, they then announced that the pre-registration gacha (crowdfunding scam) has been completely cancelled and all of the money that they've collected so far will be refunded (so much for "it's a gacha, not a crowdfund!"). pic.twitter.com/JWvf3QeUBi

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