Swag Drop: The Arcade Pen Duo

Google Cloud Community News & Announcements
1

Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating!

This festive season, we’re bringing some extra sparkle to your desk with the Arcade Pen Duo, shining bright in the Arcade Ranger Tier this time.

Meet your new go-to pens:

The Light-Up Logo Pen– Sleek, modern, and full of flair. Just push the top to light up the Google Cloud logo, and use it as a stylus when you’re switching from notes to screens.

The Metal Bead Pen– Sturdy, stylish, and finished with four colorful Google beads that add a touch of fun to your writing moments.

Whether you’re jotting down ideas or signing off your next big win, this pair is built to make every note feel a little more special.

Here’s your last chance to get closer to your Arcade Pen Duo:

_C2 2025 Swag Drop (3)

Complete the Diwali Dialogues and Lights & Logic games before October 20, 2025, earn 6 Arcade Points, and move one step closer to this amazing duo!

See you in the Cloud

30 Likes
2

VERY DISAPPOINTED to see such repeated swags in the current Google Cloud Arcade season — the same ones that were launched in the previous season. We’ve been giving feedback repeatedly, requesting new, creative, and productive swags, but unfortunately, every new season brings back rewards from the older ones.

This time, the USB Hub and Duo Pencil were added to the Ranger Tier, but according to the new reward distribution strategy, these same items will also be part of Champions and Legends Tiers. Launching such low-value rewards on the special occasion of Diwali has really made participants lose excitement and motivation for Arcade.

Looking at the new strategies, rules, and code of conduct this year, it honestly feels like the Google Cloud Arcade team is running short on resources to provide quality rewards to participants. The quantity and quality of rewards have noticeably dropped in Season 1, 2025. Meanwhile, the facilitators are being given exclusive, unique, and premium swags — far better curated than what participants receive.

Except for the backpack, most participant rewards are cheap and locally sourced items. Every season, the points criteria to reach higher tiers increases, but the reward quality and variety keep decreasing. New policies and strategies seem only focused on reducing swag expenses — if that’s the case, then at least reduce the points criteria too.

It’s truly disappointing to see repeated rewards being offered again in higher milestones like the Legends Tier, especially during a festive season like Diwali. God knows what the rest of the prize catalog will look like, but this was really disheartening.

Facilitators join for two months, keep participants engaged, and promise new exclusive rewards each season — but it turns out the Arcade team is just fulfilling quotas while saving resources by providing even cheaper items than before.

After reaching and accumulating enough Arcade points for the Legend Tier, I can honestly say —
:backhand_index_pointing_right: I will no longer participate in any future Arcade seasons. @yugali

28 Likes
3

@Yugali bring hoodie please!!!

9 Likes
4

Mee too

1 Like
5

so you’re telling me Champion Tier gets the same rewards as last cohort, USB hub and then this again same today?

2 Likes
6

Great! I just received this yesterday. They work well and look amazing in real life.

7

nice

8

This is not so good for someone who is targeting legend. Depending on the amount of hard work they did achieving 95 points only to get repeated swags. Very Disappointed.

3 Likes
9

VERY DISAPPOINTED to see such repeated swags in the current Google Cloud Arcade season — the same ones that were launched in the previous season. We’ve been giving feedback repeatedly, requesting new, creative, and productive swags, but unfortunately, every new season brings back rewards from the older ones.

This time, the USB Hub and Duo Pencil were added to the Ranger Tier, but according to the new reward distribution strategy, these same items will also be part of Champions and Legends Tiers. Launching such low-value rewards on the special occasion of Diwali has really made participants lose excitement and motivation for Arcade.

Looking at the new strategies, rules, and code of conduct this year, it honestly feels like the Google Cloud Arcade team is running short on resources to provide quality rewards to participants. The quantity and quality of rewards have noticeably dropped in Season 1, 2025. Meanwhile, the facilitators are being given exclusive, unique, and premium swags — far better curated than what participants receive.

Except for the backpack, most participant rewards are cheap and locally sourced items. Every season, the points criteria to reach higher tiers increases, but the reward quality and variety keep decreasing. New policies and strategies seem only focused on reducing swag expenses — if that’s the case, then at least reduce the points criteria too.

It’s truly disappointing to see repeated rewards being offered again in higher milestones like the Legends Tier, especially during a festive season like Diwali. God knows what the rest of the prize catalog will look like, but this was really disheartening.

Facilitators join for two months, keep participants engaged, and promise new exclusive rewards each season — but it turns out the Arcade team is just fulfilling quotas while saving resources by providing even cheaper items than before.

After reaching and accumulating enough Arcade points for the Legend Tier, I can honestly say —
:backhand_index_pointing_right: I will no longer participate in any future Arcade seasons.

11 Likes
10

This is really disappointing, after the removal of both the hoodies and the emoji alarm clock last season, I was not feeling like it. The arcade team is just getting their work done from us, they don’t have look time for our hard work and studies.

11

They really sucks, ■■■■ man why they are doing this.

12

Please don’t repeat cohort 1 swags please :folded_hands:

4 Likes
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To the Google Arcade Team,

This is a heartfelt request from the community regarding the prize system for the Google Cloud Arcade. We’ve noticed the introduction of new, higher-point tiers like 75 and 95 points. Achieving these milestones requires a significant investment of time, effort, and dedication.

However, a growing sentiment within the community is that the prizes offered for these high-effort tiers are often repetitive or do not feel proportional to the commitment required. For participants who dedicate themselves to completing the labs, this can be quite discouraging.

We kindly request you to please consider the immense effort put in by the participants. Introducing more unique, new, and valuable prizes for the higher tiers would not only be a great motivation but also better reward the hard work of your dedicated community.

Thank you for creating this platform and for considering our feedback.

6 Likes
14

ts aint tuff :sob::folded_hands:t2:

15

With introduction of 70 pre-assessment labs , Quality of Arcade challenge at very low compared to previous seasons, so are the swags.

When facilitators prioritize lab completion targets over genuine learning, it often results in diminished swag quality for Arcade participants.

Most facilitators are suddenly creating Google Cloud Legends within two months using Shorts to meet their targets. Nowadays, anyone who can afford to spend can become a Legend, as many facilitators’ YouTube channels show exactly how to do it. If you know how to use a laptop or desktop and are good at copy-pasting—and if you have time on your hands—you can become a Google Cloud Legend.

The number of Legends is drastically increasing due to facilitators and bonus points. Google’s budget for Arcade swags has remained mostly the same across seasons, so I expect the swag quality to be consistently low. Honestly, the Arcade challenge no longer holds much value

A few seasons ago, I used to feel a much greater sense of satisfaction when I reached a higher prize tier, but nowadays that feeling is completely missing

5 Likes
16

I think, this program is made for one time claim per user. It’s not made for the people always claiming swags everytime, just for learning new things ok, but some guys taking swags every season.

2 Likes
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I hope from next season there will be strict monitoring in shortlisting quality facilitators and time spent in earning badges. As said swags motivates the learning process, no doubt it is. Also need learning path so that everything aligns the learning order and understanding cloud better. overwhelming Digital Tranformation :face_in_clouds: Finally Add to Swags from Cymbal Bakery :cupcake: for this diwali!!!

18

Hey @Yugali Mam,

On behalf of all the members, I really want to raise a concern regarding the recent swag distribution. We’ve all been putting in a lot of hard work and effort, and it’s honestly disappointing to see that this time, the reward is just two pens.

Considering how much effort we’ve contributed — and the fact that the points required have increased — giving only two non-refillable pens feels underwhelming. These pens are part of the old swag tier, and even from that collection, they’re not the most useful or exciting items.

If the intention is to distribute something from the old cohort swags, at least consider giving something more unique or practical, like the emoji clock or thermal printer. Those would actually feel like a reward worth the effort.

Also, under the new swag system, the same two pens are included for all tiers — Ranger, Legend, and Champion — which doesn’t make sense. If these pens have to be included, they’d make more sense for Trooper or Novice tiers, not for higher ones where expectations and contributions are greater.

Hence, we all request you to kindly consider exchanging the current reward with something more meaningful or valuable that aligns with the updated points and our contributions.

Thanks for understanding!

9 Likes
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Me too

20

People who are complaining here. The real swag is the knowledge you gain and not the products