The 'Gooner Bait Games' or 'Gooner Arms Race' meme refers to the escalating competition between video game developers—particularly in the Gacha and Action RPG genres—to attract players through increasingly provocative character designs and fan-service. This 'arms race' narrative gained significant traction with the release of games like Stellar Blade and updates to titles like Nikke and Zenless Zone Zero, where the internet began joking that developers were trying to 'out-goon' one another to capture the attention of a specific subculture. The meme is typically used to compare the physics, outfits, or marketing strategies of rival games, highlighting the absurdity of how far studios will go to cater to 'gooners' in the name of viral profit and player engagement.