Gooner Bait Video games / Gooner Arms Race

About

Gooner Bait is a slang time period used to explain the video video games and different media during which intercourse attraction of characters is a serious promoting issue, with some video games additionally utilizing sexually interesting imagery of their promotional supplies. The apply has been traditionally fashionable within the gacha sport style, however isn’t restricted to it. Video video games comparable to Azur Lane, Zenless Zone Zero and Stellar Blade have all been described as “gooner bait” and “gooner video games”.

In Spring 2025, a perceived development of gacha and different video games changing into more and more sexualized resulted has been described with the humorous slang phrases Gooner Arms Race and Goon Wars.

Origin

In fashionable on-line slang, slang time period goon stands for an individual who excessively engages in masturbation. Previous to popularization of the slang time period “gooner bait”, the same slang time period “coomer bait” was used on-line to explain video video games and different media concentrating on people who find themselves simply excited by sexualized content material.

The time period “gooner bait” has mostly been used to explain fashionable gacha video games, a style of free-to-play video games during which character acquisition performs an necessary position. Gacha video games comparable to Azur Lane, Zenless Zone Zero and Goddess of Victory: Nikke amongst others have all relied on sexualization of feminine characters to make them extra fascinating and stimulate in-game purchases (a social media publish selling an Azur Lane character proven beneath). Notably, many video games which have been accused of being “gooner bait” have been developed by Chinese language studios.

【Dynamic Preview: Raffaello】Get a load of the facility of ART!*Content material is in growth and will not replicate the ultimate model.#AzurLane #Yostar pic.twitter.com/5BtFqw9AZF

— Azur Lane Official (@AzurLane_EN) February 28, 2025

The time period “gooner bait” first began gaining reputation on-line in in March-April 2024, prompted by on-line discourse surrounding the action-adventure online game Stellar Blade and the sexual attraction of its principal character Eve. For instance, on April twenty ninth, 2024, X person @Glislock made a publish complaining that the character design discourse overshadowing different points of the sport, referring to typical social media posts about Stellar Blade as “gooner bait”. The publish (proven beneath) obtained over 2,500 reposts and 29,000 likes.

Unfold

The phrases “gooner sport” and “gooner bait” noticed gradual popularization on-line via 2024 as they have been used to seek advice from gacha video games and sexualized imagery used of their promotional supplies. For instance, on October sixteenth, 2024, X person @ReignOfPride shared a cutscene from Zenless Zone Zero, commenting, “Zzz isn’t beating the gooner sport allegations”. The publish (proven beneath) obtained over 2,900 reposts and 33,000 likes in six months.

Zzz isn’t beating the gooner sport allegations pic.twitter.com/wivpe8Csj0

— PridefulSin ❕ (@ReignOfPride) October 16, 2024

On November 4th, 2024, X person @hrlynicole made a publish defending Zenless Zone Zero towards accusations of being “gooner bait” by sharing a personality design from one other gacha sport Guide of Yog. The publish (proven beneath) obtained over 160 reposts and 1,000 likes in 5 months,

In late March 2025, an concept that fashionable gacha video games have been engaged in a “goon warfare” or a “gooner arms race” achieved reputation on social media. The idea of an “arms race” mirrored a perceived enhance within the diploma of character sexualization that some gacha video games have been keen to permit.

For instance, on March twenty fifth, 2025, X person @kayos_o reacted to a clip of GIRLS’ FRONTLINE 2 character Sabrina sucking on fruit ice, commenting that gacha video games have been “taking part in the final word sport of rooster”. The publish (proven beneath) obtained over 2,800 reposts and 63,000 likes in three weeks.

Nikke GF2 and Azur Lane are taking part in the final word sport of rooster proper now and the tie breaker is gonna be one in every of them having one in every of their characters taking backshots on display😭 https://t.co/JNWf2HOsZk

— kayos (@kayos_o) March 25, 2025

On April ninth, 2025, gacha sport BrownDust2 launched a trailer introducing new character Iron Mornach Wilhelmina which began with the character adjusting her pants in a really sexual method, proven from an Anime Digicam Angle. The publish impressed a number of memes about BrownDust2 taking the lead within the “gooner arms race”.

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Exterior References