Wplace is a collaborative pixel art website developed by Brazilian developer Murilo Matsubara[1] and launched on 21 July 2025, in which users can edit the canvas by changing the color of pixels on the world map. The website is based on r/place, a collaborative project that was hosted on Reddit.[2]
Individual users can edit the map of the world on an online canvas through changing any of four trillion square pixels available.[3] Users begin with a limited pool of 62 pixels that they can place, and regain one spent pixel every 30 seconds as the maximum pool size expands by 2 every time the user levels up.[4] The site also features a leaderboard that shows which country and region host the most pixels. Such rules result in frequent wars between users, where every author tries to finish their own picture, sometimes destroying previous or neighboring images.[4]
Users, by leveling up and placing pixels, accumulate "droplets" – a special currency that can be spent on increasing the pool of pixels, regenerating more pixels, changing the user's profile picture or adding a flag of a chosen country to the user's profile. Users gain 1 droplet for every pixel placed, and 500 droplets every time they level up. These purchases are beneficial to creating art; when placing pixels in the country whose flag a user has purchased, 10% of their pixels will be restored.[5] There are a total of 63 colours for users to choose from, with 31 of them (including transparent) being completely free, while the other 32 can be bought for "droplets".[6]
The website attracted over a million users in four days, gaining popularity on platforms like TikTok, Reddit and Twitter, especially among residents of countries like Germany and Brazil. Due to the very high amount of concurrent users, the website has experienced many technical issues, that blocked leaderboards and prevented new users from registering, despite allowing already existing users to edit the canvas.[3][7]
On 27 August 2025, the developer of Wplace made a post on Reddit addressing various issues of the platform, including user bans, server downtime, and its "pay to win" model.[8]
Following the death of Grass Wonder, fans of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby on Wplace created a tribute to the horse in the Philippines, around San Pablo, with a large mural consisting of a pixel recreation of the character Grass Wonder in Uma Musume, holding a bouquet of flowers against a blue sky backdrop, with the message "Farewell, Grass Wonder".[16] Tributes were also drawn in the Alpes-Maritimes department following the death of the French streamer Jean Pormanove.[17]
Voids
Voiding refers to the act of coloring a part of the game map using a solid color (usually black), in order to create an area with a monochromatic color, either as a background or as a piece of its own without artwork overlaying it. It is a practice carried over from the spiritual predecessor, r/place, into Wplace.[18] In Wplace, due to the nature of the canvas as a world map so voids aim to cover an entire region, country, or other specific area.[19] Typically, this is done collaboratively, through the in-game alliances system.[citation needed] However, it can also be done by individual users without the help of other users.
In the predecessor, r/place, the limited space forced players to cover existing artworks for their own artwork to survive, similarly to the void. In comparison, due to the much larger size of the Wplace canvas, this is unnecessary. To protect the artwork of its users, the rules of Wplace used to state that voiding was prohibited.[citation needed] However, due to the growing demand to allow it, Wplace updated their rules to allow a limited form of voiding that protects artwork, allowing voiding only in the case of existing artwork not being covered. Despite the rules, this didn't stop voids from taking over parts of the map and actively forcibly prevent the creation of new artworks, which has led to many users who use voiding to destroy artwork to temporary suspensions or permanent bans.[citation needed] In one notable case, Andorra was entirely covered by a black and purple void.[19]
Controversies
Voids, like artworks on the site, are typically placed in populated areas and other areas that receive a lot of attention. The existence of voids is linked to destruction and griefing (the act of purposefully degrading or destroying someone else's work) because of the numerous instances in which black voids have been used to destroy artwork[20][citation needed].
Today, according to the website's Code of Conduct, voiding is allowed as long as it doesn't cover or destroy artworks.[21]
Media activism
Video game–related activism
Wplace was also used as an attempt of fans to communicate with corporations, such as through creating art in the location of the company's offices.[22] Several fans of the series Dragon Age used Wplace to protest disallowing its developer BioWare from creating remastered versions of their games.[9][23][24]
Political activism
Area of the Gaza Strip in Wplace on 25 September 2025
Artwork featuring transgender culture and advocacy has been documented on the site, particularly in prominent locations in the UK.[25] Notably users started to feature transgender flags near the house of J. K. Rowling due to her previous statements regarding the trans community.[26][27] Due to the large number of trans flags on the map, the community of the website began making memes about their prevalence.[25]
Cloudflare – The website is based on Cloudflare servers, which previously had a bad reputation on users of the site for constantly asking for verification. The servers also had a major outage on 18 November 2025, bringing WPlace down with it for a few hours.
↑"Wplace". Wplace. Shop overlay (top right, 2nd button from top) "Flags" section. Archived from the original on 3 September 2025. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
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