Playtika

I have been playing June’s Journey for about 4 years now and it was a really great game. Perfect for the main demographic that plays it and it brought so many of us much pleasure However Playtika are gradually ruining June's Journey since they bought it from Wooga. We players committed to a *hidden objects* game, and we deliberately don’t play casino-style or gambling games - yet Playtika insists on introducing more and more (unwanted!) elements of risk. Furthermore these changes actually mess with the team camaraderie that they were also trying to build through the Coffee Lounge. The CEO talks in an interview about player retention being important, however they do not demonstrate that through their actions. Due to recent changes players are leaving, boycotting, refusing to pay real $$, etc. In a nutshell, Playtika seems to know nothing of the main demographic that is playing their game - or they simply do not care and are happy to run the game into the ground. Not a great strategy for increasing player retention in order to grow revenue!

In regards to June's Journey, your recent changes prove that profits are your one and only end goal which, from a business perspective, makes sense; however, your changes have left your players dissatisfied and losing all desire to play your games. Recent changes have left us frustrated and the only way to succeed or advance in the game is to spend money and given the current economic situation around the world it is poor timing on your part to add extra demands upon your players. While you FINALLY gave us the option to move gifted bushes around on our island, you also took away the one stable and secure method of us obtaining a sufficient number of diamonds to play the game successfully. Please reconsider your recent changes and give us back our previous green, blue and red bushes in addition to the new bushes offered. We do appreciate now being able to gift eight bushes instead of the previous six however, the rewards provided with the new bushes honestly don't keep in line with the losses we have sustained by other changes you have made within the game. PLEASE listen to us and respond positively to our requests for a fair and even playing experience and competition field. Thank you!

I loved this game. Our team was really liking the red bush rotation. In our day we got 11 or 12 bushes worth 5 diamonds each. We knew there would be there. Then you took our red, blue and green bushes away from us. No consistent supply of diamonds, no extra coffee in the cafe at meeting time. Why even do it anymore when all we can do is give our free one? That gets us nowhere.
I'm getting so tired of fighting this game just trying to play it. I'm exhausted. Please tell us why you're doing this to us and your game. We've thought about it, talked about it, and can only come up with one reason. You're forcing us to pay to play. We'll John and I don't have any extra money. He just turned 75 and still has to work to pay my medical bills. I will quit this game before I will cause him to hand to work to pay one penny for me to play this game. I'm sure there are plenty of players here with money who buy anything they want. Not all of us can do that. I'm sure everyone who can and wants to give you some of their money. The rest of us have none to give you. Would you like for us to just quit playing? After all you're not making anything off of us. I would prefer you to tell me to leave the game than to be put into this position. Guess it's up to you. Keep us playing or push us out. I feel very disrespected. I'm my opinion, this is no way to treat your players.

Playtika has made several recent changes to June’s Journey, a game I’ve been playing for over 1.5 years.
They have removed the certainty of receiving diamonds from gifted bushes from teammates and other players being replaced with bushes that *might* give diamonds or something else entirely.
The weekly Detective League prizes have been downgraded and no longer have diamonds at all except for the first week. Competition prizes have been downgraded over the last year as well.
Diamonds are a core resource in the game and any reduction in their numbers has an adverse effect on gameplay.
Additionally, Playtika does not offer players equal opportunities for purchasing this core resource - algorithms decide if a player receives a very expensive offer ($99 includes 2500 diamonds plus a decor item or snippet pack) or a very reasonable offer ($5.99 and includes the same decor item or snippet pack but only 100 diamonds). The apparent logic is that the high offer is better value and is offered only to their higher spending customers. It takes forever to reshape your algorithm to receive cheaper offers if you’ve ever made the mistake of buying bulk diamonds.
Finally there are at least 3 different rewards algorithms for the new gift bushes so while some players may have a 70% chance of receiving diamonds from a purple smokebush, other unlucky players will only have a 15% chance of diamonds. Additionally the coin payout on that bush is 100 coins, yet it cost your teammate 300 coins to give it to you. Lucky players only have an 8% chance of the coins, but unlucky players have a 35% chance.
These unfair tactics have created a lot of ill will towards Wooga/Playtika, because we feel unvalued as customers, and we feel we are just cash cows in the way they treat us. June’s Journey used to be a wonderful game before Playtika took over.
It’s been made clear to the company how players feel and the thing is that so many players used to happily spend money in game on decorations or offers and have now completely stopped spending anything because of the way the company has treated us and repeatedly ignored feature requests (like push alerts for in game chat, improving in game chat) and taking things away when they do add a feature such as the ability to move bushes came with the negative of these new bushes.
If we could select which item we received when we cashed in the bushes players wouldn’t be upset by the changes.
Listen to your players or you’ll drive the game and your company into the ground!

I started this game probably 3 years ago, fresh out of the hospital having to be quarantined from my family, friends & work. I found Junes Journey to be so much more than just a hidden object game...I found friends who became teammates who became family! With the same passion about this game as I did & they taught me the strategy to the inside of this wonderful game. The gals that had been in this since day one were able to help me learn because at first all I wanted to do was build & see all of the things we want to have. Then things started to go wrong with purchasing things. I like to spend money on extra things like extra coffee because I wasn't so great at the comps I wanted to give back to my team that was teaching so much. Didn't mind buying the extra diamonds for that. Then we started getting alot of things that took our attention away from the simple things like sharing coffee time, bushes & comps. With sweep the board I had to learn real quick that I didn't want to get caught up in that & lose by diamonds to things I really wanted to do like share coffee time with my teammates. It was a fun game then, especially during a time when we all needed a connection in our life due to all the covid things, social distancing & all that came with that. Instead of figuring out how to reward your many players that had to of came along during that time, I feel you started demanding more from the players & giving less as far as the rewards went for whatever task it was at hand. I love this game but all of the extra cash I give now would go towards just staying a head in the game instead of a treat for myself for all my hard work at work. It was a treat. And then comes your different amounts on your offers!! Why aren't they all the same? To make this game more fair? Why do you charge me more than the next team player because I spend more on the game than they do, actually shouldn't I be the one that gets the better deal due to all the cash I spend on this game? But more so they should all be the same to be fair to everyone. At this point I am only hanging on due to the friends that have turned into family here not because I love the game & that makes my heart sad.

Their influence has destroyed the previously wonderful game Junes Journey. When I think back to how the game used to be when I first started playing, it was so much fun and generous with the prizes. I used to spend quite a bit of money to help my team. Playtika then bought Wooga and the prizes got stingier and stingier. I stopped buying anything because they were so stingy. Now they’ve made a structural change to take away our source of diamonds so I am just going to play my account till it has nothing left and then quit. To the people at Playtika who stay up at night thinking how to ruin Junes Journey even more, did you ever hear the expression that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? Because I wouldn’t spend a dime to play Junes Journey now and before you bought Wooga I used to spend 100 a month to support my lovely generous game. I find it unbelievable how you totally ignore the desires of your customers. We hate everything you’ve done to the game.

I began the June’s Journey voyage over a year ago. I found it challenging and relaxing at the same time, which is a dichotomy but somehow still true.
I’ve seen a lot of changes lately and not for the betterment of the game itself or the players involved.
This is a company, and as such deserves to make a profit, however they should balance that effort alongside a desire to entice newbies to join as well as maintain those long-standing advocates who helped it become such a huge success to begin with. Instead I see the opposite happening—it’s becoming almost impossible to play and compete without sinking into a money pit for which there’s no chance of returning from. Prizes are minimal for the exorbitant energy needed to achieve them and replenishing that energy now takes days or weeks in order to do so. I don’t mind spending money here and there on the game but when it becomes routine in order to play you can no longer advertise it as free.
Either revert the bushes back to where we can continue to enjoy gifting coffee by receiving gems, and thus replenish energy, or it’s time for me to find another hobby.

Playtika, June's Journey used to be an enjoyable experience. Over the last 5 yr. there have been many changes. Most recently is what I can only nicely call the Bush-Gate Saga. You have taken away the game's main source of Diamonds which are used to make purchases in the game and thus to make progress in the game. I am retired. I have a very low and limited income. When I make purchases, I may very well be choosing whether or not I can afford my next prescription. JJ is a means to relax, to forget my worries, and to make contact with others outside of my limited personal circle. I quit working my real life job 10 years ago when I could no longer be productive in my life's work as a Registered Nurse for over 40 years. I have no desire to have another full-time job as JJ has become. It has become a grind. I continue to play to support my team and because I feel close to them. Please bring back the previous features of the Bush giving with the compensation being the Diamonds harvested thru those Bushes.

I like the new bushes but not at the expense of losing our diamonds.You took away your lively hood by doing this.a lot of us including myself are on a fixed income and can not afford to buy everything you offer when we do it is minimal because we are on a fixed income. I can not and will not be buying more diamonds and if I can't get them in this game anymore that what's the use in playing. Your greed has gotten enormous and people can't afford to play the way you want them to yes you have some that will but the majority of the player's won't they work hard for their money and to just throw it away on a game that you don't even really have out right to show what you spent the money on or be proud to show off like a new vase or a bouquet of flowers that you can admire and show off to your friend or family . Just doesn't seem worth what your asking for.
Besides if we continue to purchase the bushes with our coins we are not going to be able to upgrade our island's and or play the game so you're going to lose there also you really didn't think this through. Because it's going to wind up costing you more than you know

Schade, ein einst so schönes Spiel wie June's Journey mutiert immer mehr zur Gelddruckmaschine für das Unternehmen und wird zu einem Glücksspiel umgewandelt.
Wichtige Ressourcen die wir im Spiel brauchen und bisher durch Einsatz und Teamplay erhalten haben, wurden uns weggenommen, nicht zum ersten Mal, um den Einsatz von Echtgeld zu fördern. Dieses Mal schön dekoriert in Form von neuen Büschen, die aber beim genauen Betrachten nichts weiter als eine Mogelpackung sind. Mit horrenden Kaufangeboten wird man mittlerweile auch geradezu überflutet.
Dafür werden technische Probleme im Spiel ignoriert und auf mangelhaft ausgestattete Geräte der Spieler geschoben. Unfaire, teils sogar betrügerische Spielmethoden in der Liga und den Wettbewerben will man nicht wahrhaben oder doch eher unterstützen, um auch hier seine Spieler zum Einsatz von Echtgeld zu zwingen.
Keinen Cent bekommt Playtika mehr von mir!
Vielleicht sollten Sie doch lieber bei den von Ihnen bekannten Glücksspielen bleiben und nicht liebevoll gestaltete Spiele wie JJ und PP aufkaufen und durch ihre fehlende Kreativität in noch ein Casino umwandeln und damit ruinieren.

Since Playtika buying Wooga and the founder of Wooga stepping out of the picture after their agreed upon 1 year transition contract, June’s Journey aka JJ has become nothing more than a source for this Corporation to take advantage of it’s loyal fan base & show what Corporate Greed really is. I am one of those loyal fans until now. We deal with all forms of Corporate greed in our actual real lives. Most players of JJ like myself use JJ as a form of escape from our reality and some use it to help them recover from medical ailments or afflictions. When JJ was first introduced, it targeted an age demographic where a high percentage of this age bracket is or will be on a fixed income. As I was not a player when it first come out in 2017, I have done my research and going d this to be the case. Then Wooga, once bought by Playtika but still had the founder of Wooga still working for them started making small tweaks to the game that started attracting a younger demographic, I bring one of them. I found and started playing JJ in February 2019. In tge beginning I Loved this game; so much so that my family had to really pry me away. I have since learned balance. In 2020 at the start of the pandemic, Wooga introduced a part of the game that brought the JJ community together in a unique way by having teams if you chose to be a part of that game. They made it exciting & thrilling and offered substantial prizes to make it worth one’s time to do this part of the game. Then they found that the JJ community was amassing large amounts of free resources through the introduction of this aspect and decided they needed to curb it. So they made a huge change and we as a JJ community balked so badly they reversed it. With that started coming small changes to get us to dig into our amassed resources some but I was ok with that; after all, a company is there to make somewhat of a profit. But now they have made another drastic change to blatantly get us to spend money on a highly coveted commodity of the game, diamonds in order for us to be able to have successful, competing teams. And like most teams, I’m on a team where we have become like family. And in this family, there are those less fortunate to be able to have expendable income to be put in the position of having to buy this commodity. So I’m speaking out and taking a stand for not only my teammates but all in the JJ community that are in this situation. Please make changes to our bush gifting so that we still have the ability to move them, give more of them and the originals diamond value that we previously had. I do have the expendable income to spend but will not do so until you make changes. You get enough revenue from our Ad watching and those of us that Choose to spend. A disheartened fan.

Playtika took a game that I once enjoyed playing, and completely destroyed it. They have turned a game that I used to help improve my memory, and turned it into gambling. If anyone wants to gamble, just go to the casino. I have zero interest in gambling, therefore I’ve lost interest in the game that was once so much fun. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people while playing, and that’s why I haven’t deleted the app from my phone… but that day is coming. Competitions are no longer fun to play because they have made it impossible to win. Teams can no longer function the way that they used to because they took away our resources to help each other, and I think Playtika failed to realize that this is what kept people interested in the game to begin with. The teams coming together is the only reason this game has lasted beyond their destruction. Bringing the game back to what it used to be would be in their best interest. The fact that they try to control your every move via AI is creepy AF too.

What started out as a game advertised as “free” and fun is evolving into an addictive gambling game where, more and more, rewards are left to chance. I’ve been playing JJ since a few months after its inception. Many of the changes along the way have been fun and positive. But, ever since Playtika purchased June’s Journey, the focus has been on changes that can get players to play with real money rather than in-game diamonds and energy. I guess I wouldn’t have a problem with that IF that’s what I’d known upfront going into the game. But, that’s not the game I downloaded. It’s also no longer the game that had a developer who was aware of its players’ requests for fun and useful features, to keep us interested and wanting more. And, who had a responsive support team, who actually personalized responses. All we get now are “canned” responses. And, whenever your servers become overloaded and our game crashes, somehow it’s always the fault of our own personal devices, according to your “support” team. June’s Journey is unfortunately becoming a highly sophisticated “pay to play if you want to advance” gambling game, although it’s still advertised as a “free” mystery search game. Even some of its newest side games have features designed to look like slot machines! The latest move by Playtika has players all over the world in an uproar! The new movable bushes are lovely; BUT, they cost more than the ones we previously had available. Why could they not have been an “addition” rather than a replacement for the old bushes?? And, although the new bushes are now movable (which we had requested), the reward of a guaranteed number of diamonds has been taken away and only measly prizes based on odds/chance are available in the new bushes! That cuts into the amount of coffees we can give out each day in order to increase our energy so we can play in comps and all the numerous side games and move ahead in scenes and complete HW tasks! Because the bush “rewards” are all now based on odds, we see further evidence that Playtika is turning this once enjoyable “free” game into one of chance…gambling. This latest move by Playtika is geared specifically toward getting their players to break out their credit card and spend money for an advertised “FREE” game. A game should be fun and relaxing. Playtika is turning June’s Journey into a stressful gambling game for the majority of its players.

Les nouveaux buissons de JUNE'S JOURNEY
Les nouveaux buissons coutent plus cher en pièces et permettent d'obtenir moins de diamants et des récompenses sans AUCUN INTERET
Moins de diamants = moins de café
Moins de café = moins d'énergie
Moins d'énergie = moins de jeu, moins de compétition, de ligue,
Moins de jeu = moins de publicités visionnées
Moins de jeu = des joueurs dégoutés qui vont arrêter
Bref vos nouveaux buissons c'est du perdant / perdant
Plus la question récurrente qui n'est TOUJOURS pas traité avec au sein de certaines équipes des allers et retour de joueurs. Quand certains jouent à 15, d'autres ont 3 ou 4 fois plus de joueurs. On veut un jeu EQUITABLE Vous aimeriez regarder un match de foot avec une équipe à 11 et l'autre à 40 ??? Moi NON
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
JUNE'S JOURNEY NEW BUSHES
New bushes cost more in coins and get less diamonds and rewards with NO INTEREST
Less diamonds = less coffee
Less coffee = less energy
Less energy = less play, less competition, league,
Less game = less advertisements viewed
Less game = disgusted players who will stop In short,
Your new bushes are losers / losers (perdants/perdants)
And also the recurring question that is ALWAYS not dealt with the comings and goings of players within certain teams.
When some play with 15 people, others have 3 or 4 times as many players. We want a FAIR game
Would you enjoy to watch a football match with one team at 11 and the other at 40??? Me no

Llevo jugando casi 2 años Platika dueño de June’s Journey compro este juego obvio por $$ pero no se ha dado cuenta que sin la gente como yo o los demás no tendrían ganancias ha habido cambios dentro del juego empecemos 1ero el juego antes era divertido ahora es estresante con su juego arrasa la idea es padre y podría ser divertida pero al final te dan pocos segundos y tienes que gastar diamantes para ganar el premio 😣 , ahora el cambio de los arbustos antes teníamos verdes 1 diamante azules 3 diamantes y tojos 5 diamantes con el nuevo cambio 3 gratis y los demás cuestan $ dinero con la posibilidad de que te den un diamante lingotes o dinero es decir quieren que compremos diamantes 😡 con dinero real que aveces no se tiene, los albums son hermosos pero que estresante para conseguir los premios otra vez hay que comprar sobres con diamantes que te salen repetidos y en vez de disfrutar el álbum estás con el miedo de no conseguirlo a mi me faltan 9 u 8 y tengo miedo de no completarlo que horror si es un juego quiero divertirme quiero decorar mis islas distraerme y ya no me siento así por último las decoraciones unas excesivamente caras o las compras con diamantes o dinero real entonces el juego es para los millonarios porque yo no lo soy en fin se volvieron unos mercenarios por $ además ganan en los comerciales y por personas como yo que he tenido que comprar con dinero real para llegar a los albums por último hay gente que se dedica hacer trampa con muchas cuentas y tienen un número excesivo de puntos como le hacen no lo sé yo soy una simple mortal que quiere jugar adornar mis islas y pasarla bien PLAYTIKA no todo es dinero en esta vida hagan felices a sus jugadores unos pesos mas unos pesos menos Saludos

Playtika have made several retrograde changes to June’s Journey.
They have removed the certainty of receiving diamonds from gift bushes being replaced with bushes that *might* give diamonds or something else entirely.
The weekly Detective League prizes have been downgraded and no longer have diamonds at all except for the first week. Competition prizes have been downgraded over the last year as well.
Diamonds are a core resource in the game and any reduction in their numbers has an adverse effect on gameplay.
Additionally, Playtika does not offer players equal opportunities - algorithms decide if a player receives a very expensive offer (AU$159.99 that includes 2500 diamonds plus a decor item or snippet pack) or a very reasonable offer (AU$6.99 that includes the same decor item or snippet pack but only 100 diamonds). Their logic is that the high offer is better value and is offered only to their higher spending customers. It takes forever to reshape your algorithm to receive cheaper offers if you’ve ever made the mistake of buying bulk diamonds.
Finally there are at least 2 different rewards algorithms for the new gift bushes, so while some players may have a 70% chance of receiving diamonds from a purple smokebush, other unlucky players will only have a 15% chance of diamonds. Additionally the coin payout on that bush is 100 coins, yet it cost your teammate 300 coins to give it to you. Lucky players only have an 8% chance of the coins, but unlucky players have a 35% chance.
These unfair tactics engender a lot of ill will towards Wooga/Playtika, because we feel unvalued as customers, and we feel we are just cash cows in the way they treat us. June’s Journey used to be a wonderful game before Playtika took over.

I play their game June's Journey! In the last year they have just introduced in every way they can some way to make you have to buy with real money. I have spent before and I know lots of players who do regularly, but even though they are making a substansial profit from this game, they will not be happy till every player in the game is buying weekly or more. They take polls acting like they care, and then do the opposite of what the people want. They don't care about the players even if they try to make you think they do. I know they are a business and I expect them to make money, but pure greed without respect or care for those who use their product is different. There have been repeated reports of cheating among the top ranked teams, but because these teams spend so much money, they do nothing to stop it. Yet, I have heard of whole innocent teams being kicked out of the game because one person did something wrong, yet they refuse to stop the teams who have 15 players who cheat all the time. It makes them sound like they are doing something, except they won't touch the true offenders. Recently they have restructured something in the game called Bush gifting. They aren't fooling those of us who know why you took away our bushes that gave us diamonds in the game and now it is more like a game of chance. They are after all known as a gambling institution more than the kind of game that JJ is. JJ is a game always used for fun and relaxation, to decorate your island and find items in the scenes. Now they are taking away what teams need to be able to truly play the game the way we have played it. They want you to have to buy the diamonds. Thousands have loved this game for years and used it as a way to escape and relax. Playtika has made it a tense, stressful and chaotic game. There are still aspects of the game I love, but it is fast becoming a game I don't recognize nor like. I am sad that the game that I loved is becoming what it is. They need to listen to their players and give us back our diamond producing bushes and some of the rewards they have taken away over the last year. If they really want to help their players listen to them and fix the glitches in the game and make it where we aren't getting kicked off or having our games freeze. Just let us play our game, have fun and quit being so greedy.

At a time in history when we have been under lockdowns, lost loved ones, prices for food and most everything is on the rise, when the average person has to choose between eating and fueling their cars to go to work, this is exactly the time playtika changes the game? Don’t they realize that June’s Journey is a way in which people could, at least for a short while, leave their worries behind? Now they want to force everyone to pay for things in order to continue playing? The humane thing for playtika to do is return the bushes to their former state. Everyone feels like they have been gut punched & shin kicked at a time when they were down. Shame on playtika, and those making the decisions, for they are greedy and heartless. I will no longer play the game but will always remember those at playtika who, for as much as they talk about helping others, apparently don’t care about anyone but themselves. The proof is in the profit gained by them in 2021. I will no longer be playing and I will shout the truth about this company from the highest roof top for everyone to hear “don’t play June’s Journey” and the multiple reasons why.

Playtika bought a beautiful game from Wooga, June's Journey, and proceeded to run it into the ground.
I understand they are in business to make money and keep their stockholders happy. I would never begrudge a company's efforts to turn a profit. I strongly object to their methods.
They have steadily added side games to the original hidden object game. The new additions are designed to burn through a player's resources, forcing them to spend larger amounts of cash to continue to advance in the game. The prizes for winning competitions have steadily gotten smaller and more worthless.
At first it was a gradual decline. It was easy to overlook until you compared a screenshot of last year's prizes to recent prizes. The latest manipulation of removing diamond producing bushes is the last straw for this camel's back.
The prizes inside the replacement bushes will be a roll of the dice. You never know what they will contain but you can count on them decreasing in value once the initial uproar dies down.
Everything about this game has decreased in value over the 2.5 years I have been playing. It has now reached the point where it is no longer worth the hours of my life to play it.
I know the company will not collapse without the money I used to spend on it. And I am sure they won't run out of new players - after all P. T. Barnum said there is a new sucker born every minute. But you have to wonder about the soundness of their business plan that treats paying customers with such low regard.
And the rumor is they are looking to sell the company. Shocker, huh? Well, buyer beware. The damage Playtika has done to June's Journey won't be easily repaired.

Player loyalty substantially devalued again, price of pieces offered to me climbed monumentally this year, compared to previous offers & I see same items offered to other players much cheaper & I know it's just because I've bought before. Well no more, I am raising the price on my loyalty too. Now, by taking away the diamonds our bush purchases generated for each other within our teams means we have to pay for energy which we spend back in game to play anyway, it's reducing how much we can play & will knock plenty of players out of teams too. The prize incentives to play comps & league are steadily declining. This recent change is another example of putting players under pressure. If I want stress release & fun, this game is no longer my go to. My perception of this company is that it is no longer like Wooga was, with imaginative artists, characters, storylines & a desire to give players fun. The lastest owner Playtika exploits players & their personal data. They've ensured this game is no longer good value. I've found other games which I am happy to give money to, as they are up front with costs & do not gouge, provide real entertainment like Wooga used to do, putting the Customer at the heart of what they create, not their profits.