Heartopia developer XD Inc. has issued an official statement and apology after removing an in-game NPC animation that drew backlash from players. The move may close the door on the scene itself, but it has not ended fan criticism over how the studio chose to explain the Heartopia controversy.
The original issue centers on a sequence tied to one of Heartopia's poison mushrooms. Specifically, XD recently added a quest in which Kapil, a Black NPC, accidentally ingests a mushroom and begins hooting and dancing. The animation sparked controversy among players, with some arguing that it evoked racist comparisons to monkeys rather than conveying the intended effect of simple disorientation.
Heartopia offers free Gold and Wishing Stars to players as compensation for scheduled downtime, but the rewards are only available for a few days.
The Heartopia developer responded to the backlash with a statement posted to the game's official Discord server in early March 2026. An XD representative explained that the intent behind the animation was to illustrate vertigo and a general "loss of bodily control" that commonly stems from poisoning. Following the initial wave of player complaints, the Chinese studio removed the Kapil animation. "We sincerely apologize to anyone...
