Addressing the Issues Regarding Season 6

 Greetings from the Cookie Run: OvenBreak team.

Before we begin, we would like to sincerely apologize for the lacking changes that came with the Season 6 update. We would also like to thank everyone for giving us sincere and honest feedback regarding the update.

Our developer team has been actively reviewing your opinions and thoughts on the Season 6 update with utmost care and attention. We ask for your understanding about the lack of communication regarding the issues of Season 6 as we didn’t want to make any hasty announcements and to ensure the decisions we are making reflected the wishes of the community.

In order to alleviate the problems caused by the Season 6 update, we are planning on making the following changes:

1. Cookie skills activating at the start of a run

2. Reducing the impact of Invocation Cards on gameplay, changes to methods of acquisition, and limiting usage

3. Invocation Cards: Possibility of Refunds

4. Leaderboard resets due to Invocation Card changes

5. Compensation for all players

1. Cookie Skills Activating at the Start of a Run (Planned update: July 29)

The mechanic which activated Cookie skills at the start of a run will make its return.

Cookie Run: OvenBreak has always been eager to receive feedback from our community over the past five years. A topic of feedback we often received from new players has been that, with Cookie skills activating automatically at the start of a run, it felt difficult to understand the Cookies’ skills and activation. With Season 6, our decision to have the Cookie skill activated when the skill gauge filled up after starting a run was intended to provide an easier learning experience on the basics of the game. 

But thanks to so many voices from the community, we have realized the importance of the initial skill activation. The excitement of having your Cookie’s ability activate as soon as a new run starts is part of the identity of the Cookies. As such, we are planning to bring back the initial Cookie skill activation with the update scheduled for July 29. We will also re-adjust the balance surrounding Cookie scores accordingly, and we will share more detailed information with the upcoming update’s patch notes.

2. Reducing the Impact of Invocation Cards on Gameplay, Changes to Methods of Acquisition, and Limiting Usage (Planned update: July 29)

We agree with your feedback that the Invocation Cards have a negative effect on competitive play in Cookie Run: OvenBreak. The team has decided to greatly reduce the influence they bring to the game. In addition, all players who have purchased packages relating to Invocation Cards will be provided the option to register for a refund. (Please refer below for detailed information.)

1. Invocation Cards will no longer be usable in certain game modes.

Game Modes Without Invocation Cards

• Breakout

• Trophy Race

• Guild Run

• Champions League

• Grand Champions League

• Cookie Trials (Including Infinite Trials)

Further details on the upcoming changes:

- With the arrival of the July 29 update, Invocation Cards can no longer be used in Breakout, Trophy Race, Guild Runs, Champions League, and Cookie Trials (including Infinite Trials).

- All Breakout Episodes’ Weekly Rewards will be delivered on July 29, 08:00 (GMT+9). In addition, the Weekly Reward timer will reset at that time.

- Guild Run matchmaking will be unavailable during July 25, 09:00 - July 29, 08:59 (GMT+9). Once again, please note that, with the arrival of the July 29 update, Invocation Cards can no longer be used in Guild Runs. They will also be unavailable for use in the postseason.

2. Invocation Cards will still be available in these game modes.

Game Modes With Invocation Cards

• Main Story

• Custom Run

• Curious Rainbow Mine (Puzzle Key holders only)

3. In order to provide players a more easily accessible avenue for obtaining Invocation Shards and Tokens, we are looking into methods such as crafting in the Magic Laboratory, exchanging for them at in-game shops, as well as other ways to obtain them through regular gameplay.

Our developers are currently working to make these changes with utmost priority. Due to the potential for additional development and/or the app review and verification process, it may take more time to apply the changes.

3. Refunds and Compensation for Purchased Invocation Card Packages

With the removal of Invocation Cards from multiple game modes, players who have already purchased packages relating to Invocation Cards are eligible to receive a refund. To address the issues regarding refunds, our team has decided to proceed as follows.

i. Players who have purchased Invocation Card packages, starting from the day of the Season 6 update to the posting of this announcement (July 9 17:00, GMT+9), can, if desired, register for a refund. The in-game currencies and items earned through the purchased packages will not be retrieved. (Please check below for more details.)

ii. Players who have purchased Invocation Card packages, starting from the day of the Season 6 update, but do not register for a refund by July 28, 23:59 (GMT+9), will receive extra compensation in the form of Crystals and Rainbow Cubes at the best possible exchange rate, according to the value of the packages purchased.

iii. Players who have used Crystals and Coins to level up and/or upgrade Invocation Cards, regardless of having purchased a package or not, will receive all of their invested Crystals and Coins back. (Your Invocation Cards will not be reset.)

i. Refund Process

(iOS) Due to Apple’s rules and regulations, we are unable to directly give refunds to players. If you want to apply for a refund, please do so directly on the App Store, through the link in the in-game announcement. We apologize for the inconvenience.

(Android) If you wish to apply for a refund, use the button at the bottom of the in-game announcement to access the Customer Support page, where you can apply for refunds. To speed up the process, please follow these guidelines:

• Include [Invocation Card Refund] in the title.

• Include your Purchase Transaction ID (starting with “GPA.0000-...”) (important!) in the message.

The packages eligible for refunds are as follows:

**Only packages purchased before the posting of this notice (June 09 17:00 GMT+9) are eligible for refunds.

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.1

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.2

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.3

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.4

- Tokens & Shards BONUS TIME! Package

- Powerful Token Package

- Mighty Token Package

- Powerful Shard Package

- Mighty Shard Package

Registration for refunds will be available until July 28, 23:59 (GMT+9), one month after the release of the Season 6 update.

Refunds will be processed in order, so please keep in mind that processing the requests may take some time.

ii. Compensation for non-refunding players

For users who decide not to apply for refunds during that period, we will send Crystals and Rainbow Cubes at the best possible exchange rate, according to the value of the packages purchased. All in-game currencies and items earned through the package will not be retrieved. For those who have purchased any of the packages below, we will check our data and send you the corresponding amount of Crystals and Rainbow Cubes listed below. Please note that, due to the amount of data that has to be processed, delivery of said compensation will begin sequentially with the July 29 update. We will do our best to complete these checks as soon as possible.

Compensation per purchased package is as follows: 

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.1: Crystals x5,000 + Rainbow Cubes x1,500

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.2: Crystals x7,000 + Rainbow Cubes x2,100

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.3: Crystals x10,000 + Rainbow Cubes x3,000

- Season 6! Guaranteed Epic Invocation Card Vol.4: Crystals x20,000 + Rainbow Cubes x6,000

- Tokens & Shards BONUS TIME! Package: Crystals x10,000 + Rainbow Cubes x3,000

- Powerful Token Package: Crystals x10,000 + Rainbow Cubes x3,000

- Mighty Token Package: Crystals x30,000 + Rainbow Cubes x9,000

- Powerful Shard Package: Crystals x10,000 + Rainbow Cubes x3,000

- Mighty Shard Package: Crystals x30,000 + Rainbow Cubes x9,000

* Multiple purchases of the same package will give multiple compensation rewards accordingly.

iii. Refunds on Crystals and Coins used on Invocation Cards

As the amount of game modes allowing the use of Invocation Cards have been greatly reduced, we will return the Crystals and Coins used to upgrade Invocation Cards for all players. 

Crystals and Coins used for upgrading Invocation Cards, from the day of the Season 6 update to the posting of this announcement (July 9 17:00, GMT+9) will be refunded. Your Invocation Cards and their levels will not be reset.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

4. Leaderboard resets due to Invocation Card changes

As a result of Invocation Cards being changed to only be available in certain game modes, and with the return of Cookies’ skills activating at the start of a run, several balance changes will need to be made. With the July 29 update, the following leaderboards will be reset. We apologize for the repeated resets.

• Breakout

• Guild Runs: Guild’s Season Rank, My Best Score

• Trophy Race: Top Scores

• Cookie Trials (Please note that New Cookie Cup & Infinite Trial leaderboards will not be reset)

5. Compensation for All Players

We recognize that many of you were not happy with some of the changes made with the Season 6 update. We have been searching for a concrete and practically applicable solution, a process that took some time. We will be sending all players a daily gift as a token of our apology.

- Starting July 9 to July 14 (6 days)

- Crystals x1,000 + Rainbow Cubes x1,000 delivered via mailbox

We are once again deeply sorry for the disappointment caused by the Season 6 update, as well as for the lack of communication as we internally debated the optimal course of action, taking into account all of your feedback for the game. We will do our best to keep listening to all of your voices and strive for transparent and accurate communication, and continue to do our utmost to make Cookie Run: OvenBreak a game everyone can enjoy and love.

Your Cookie Run: OvenBreak team