In a hilariously ironic twist, some Fate/Grand Order (FGO) players have found themselves facing the gacha apocalypse: a negative Saint Quartz balance. This head-scratching scenario unfolded after crafty players exploited a bug during the Christmas 2024 event missions, snagging more Saint Quartz than they were meant to have and blowing it on summoning their favorite Servants.
Now, these players are saddled with Quartz debt, proving that even in a videogame, debt is swift and merciless.
For the uninitiated, FGO is the juggernaut mobile RPG developed by Delightworks (now Lasengle) and published by Aniplex, based on the wildly popular Fate franchise by Type-Moon. Since its 2015 launch in Japan, it’s become a gacha gold mine, raking in billions of dollars and cultivating a fanatical global player base. However, the JP version’s audience, its most loyal players took the hit from this bug-induced fiasco.
At the heart of the FGO grind is Saint Quartz, the currency used to summon Servants and Craft Essences. Players earn Quartz as rewards from missions, events, and daily log-ins, but most of it comes from their wallets. Saint Quartz is the lifeblood of FGO’s monetization, and players carefully hoard it for months (or years!) to summon their favorite high-tier Servants.
So, when a bug threatens their hard-earned or hard-bought stash, it’s not just a disruption; it can feel like a personal attack.
Now, players stuck in Quartz debt are essentially paying for their gacha sins, unable to summon until their balance is back in the black. It’s a harsh reminder that in the world of gacha, there’s no such thing as free Quartz.
The trouble began with the release of the Pohjola’s Christmas Eve: Dream of Santa and The Nutcracker event. These festive activities allowed players to complete special missions and earn rewards. However, an oversight caused some missions to award Saint Quartz multiple times under specific conditions.
Sharp-eyed players quickly discovered the exploit, using the unintended rewards to roll for highly sought-after Servants in the latest gacha banner, which featured Phantasmoon.
Lasengle, the current developer of Fate/Grand Order (FGO), acted promptly once the issue came to light. In an official statement on December 23rd, they acknowledged the bug and explained their response. The team would begin a “collection service” on the 27th which resulted in Lasengle retroactively adjusting accounts of those who exploited the bug, removing the excess Saint Quartz, which resulted in some accounts ending up with negative balances while other items obtained unfairly were also removed.
The controversy, which bears a striking resemblance to a similar incident involving Taimanin RPG Extasy, has sparked debates about developer accountability and the ethics of penalizing players for exploiting bugs in predatory live-service games. Generally, when such exploits occur, the most reasonable approach for a gacha developer is to roll back the accounts of those involved, removing any characters or items obtained through the exploit. While this would undoubtedly anger many players, it is a straightforward solution.
However, the worst approach, one that generates significant backlash is to leave players with a negative balance of such currencies. By doing so, developers effectively allow players to keep their ill-gotten rolls while saddling them with debt, which must be repaid over time by earning or purchasing additional Saint Quartz.
A negative balance locks players out of certain game features, including the ability to summon in the free gacha until the deficit is cleared. This can only be remedied through grinding for free Saint Quartz or buying paid Quartz, leaving affected players in a frustrating predicament.
This isn’t the first time the gacha world has seen such audacious tactics. Fans of Taimanin RPG Extasy might recall the infamous incident where its developers pulled a similarly ruthless move. Believing they had been too generous with Taima Crystals when leveling units, they retroactively adjusted the rewards and demanded players cough up the difference. The result? A massive swath of players woke up to find themselves thousands of Crystals in debt.
Unsurprisingly, this heavy-handed approach backfired spectacularly. With no realistic way to climb out of the imposed debt, short of grinding endlessly or forking over real cash the majority of the player base abandoned ship. The global version of Taimanin RPG Extasy was effectively sunk, going end-of-life less than a year later as disgruntled users left in droves.
Here’s a fun tidbit: even Fate/Apocrypha artist Ototsugu Konoe wasn’t spared from the debacle, proving that not even the talent behind the art is safe from the gacha grind as his own account was placed in debt to the tune of 95 Saint Quartz, the equivalent of 34 rolls.
The Fate/Grand Order player base is deeply divided over the controversy. A significant portion of Japanese players believes that exploiting bugs compromises the game’s fairness and warrants strict repercussions for offenders. These players argue that such measures are necessary to maintain the integrity of the game.
However, others see things differently. They contend that the responsibility lies with the developers for failing to address the bug before it could be exploited. Punishing players so severely, they argue, is an overreach especially when the penalty involves grinding endlessly to pay off the debt or shelling out real money for bonus Saint Quartz.
Many players are reporting that they are facing negative balances of around ~150SQ. Considering that a single summon costs just three Saint Quartz and a full 11-pull costs 30SQ, this punishment feels particularly harsh, leaving affected players stuck in a frustrating predicament once you do the math.
Players can buy premium Saint Quartz in packs of different quantities, 1, 4, 12, 25, 42, and 86, with several bundles offering bonus free Saint Quartz as part of the deal. For players hit with a 150 Quartz deficit, clearing their negative balance to zero would cost them over 19,600 JPY (about $124 USD).
However, for those who managed to exploit the Christmas event glitch to its fullest extent, generating a theoretical maximum of 917 Quartz, the cost to restore their account balance to what it was prior to Lasengle’s adjustments would climb to a staggering 166,600 JPY (~$1,050 USD). This eye-watering figure demonstrates just how severe the penalties could have been for those who leveraged the bug.
Thankfully, no players have publicly admitted to owing such a massive amount, sparing the community from what could have been a record-breaking case of in-game debt.
Nobody should have to pay to fix a developer’s mistake. This controversy underscores deeper issues plaguing the gacha gaming industry, particularly the imbalance of power between developers and players. Gacha games thrive on psychological manipulation, leveraging mechanics designed to encourage spending. Premium currencies like Saint Quartz are the lifeblood of these systems, but incidents like this reveal how quickly the scales can tip from engaging gameplay to exploitative monetization.
The imposition of a negative balance feels especially harsh to many players, as it effectively punishes those who exploited a developer oversight rather than targeting malicious actors.
Typically, practices like negative balances are reserved for players who engage in fraudulent activities such as purchasing premium currency and issuing chargebacks. Even then, such measures often lead to account suspensions or bans, not the enforced repayment of fictional debt.
This raises important ethical questions about whether such actions cross the line from fair enforcement into outright predation.
Despite the uproar, Fate/Grand Order continues to dominate as one of the most successful mobile games of all time. Its rich storytelling and constant stream of new content have cemented its status as a juggernaut in the gacha world. However, incidents like this one remind players that their enjoyment hinges precariously on the goodwill of the developers.
The holiday season, traditionally a time of joy and giving, has instead brought frustration and financial headaches for many in the FGO community, both in Japan and among international players eager to get ahead by joining the Japanese servers. The one silver lining in this ordeal? At least their fictional Saint Quartz debt doesn’t accrue interest.
Lasengle has promised to implement safeguards to prevent similar issues in the future, but the damage to the trust of some players may already be done. For those saddled with unexpected debt, the choices are bleak: grind for nothing in order to clear their balance or shell out real money to escape the negative zone quickly. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for those who exploited a games overly generous glitches.
As the debate over gacha ethics continues, one thing is increasingly clear: the relationship between developers and players needs to evolve. Trust is a fragile foundation, and without it, even the most beloved games risk alienating their core audiences. If gacha games like Fate/Grand Order hope to maintain their success Lasengle must strike a better balance, one that respects players and fosters a more equitable dynamic rather than turning into a loan shark. Otherwise, even the most loyal fanbases may eventually reach their breaking point.
