Fans of the popular subreddit r/Place are eagerly speculating if the beloved social experiment will make a comeback this year, reminiscent of the pixelated glory witnessed in 2022. For the uninitiated, r/Place is a collaborative project hosted by Reddit, where users engage in a creative competition on an online canvas.
Originally launched on April 1, 2017, the experiment allowed registered users to modify the canvas by changing the color of a single pixel using a 16-color palette. However, a timer imposed a restriction, preventing users from making color changes for intervals of 5 to 20 minutes.
The brainchild of Josh Wardle, the r/Place experiment captivated millions of users during its initial run, culminating after 72 hours on April 3, 2021. It returned on April 1, 2022, and caught the attention of the Reddit community, especially with the entertaining approach of user xQc.
Now, in the year 2023, fans’ hopes have been answered as Reddit has officially announced the revival of r/Place on Thursday, July 20. However, this announcement comes amid dissatisfaction among users due to Reddit’s API pricing, resulting in third-party apps shutting down.
Furthermore, users have expressed discontent over the platform’s decision to terminate all chat history before 2023 without prior warning, along with discontinuing the current system for Reddit Gold.
The announcement of r/Place’s return garnered a flood of user grievances, with many expressing their frustrations through simple comments like “API.” One top comment aimed its frustration at Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman, using his username “spez.”
Interestingly, Reddit’s tagline for this year’s r/Place, “Right place, wrong time,” may be subtly hinting at the delayed launch. The subreddit was initially scheduled to go live at the beginning of April but experienced multiple delays, eventually making its return on July 20.
