An Update on the Photo Feature

We want to be upfront with you about what's been happening with the photo feature and the changes we have made.

What happened, and why

When considering the Habbo experience, we decided that the orange placeholder image that was introduced back in the day was a quick fix and was not given enough thought. Hiding your Habbo memories and taking away the ability to display your creations is something we would like to improve upon, so the orange placeholder was removed in order to test out some alternatives.

We introduced blurring recently as a way to address this, but finding the right level of blur turned out to be harder than expected. We gradually increased it, looking to straddle the line between keeping your photos recognisable and preventing the feature from being used in ways it wasn't built for. We couldn't find a comfortable middle ground so, for now, we will revert back to the settings we had previously.

What's next

We're looking at alternatives that could give creators a proper space for pixel art in a way that is compliant with moderation guidelines and works for all parties. We're not ready to share details or timelines yet, but it's something we're genuinely thinking about rather than shelving.

The response to the other quality of life updates recently has been overwhelmingly positive. This one just needs a little more time to get right.

We'll share more when there's more to share.