diff --git a/src/components/game/IdleWorkerButton.tsx b/src/components/game/IdleWorkerButton.tsx
index d085e029..0b229c39 100644
--- a/src/components/game/IdleWorkerButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/game/IdleWorkerButton.tsx
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ export function IdleWorkerButton() {
   // Update idle worker count via event-driven approach + throttled polling
   // Note: Hooks must be called unconditionally, so spectator check is after all hooks
   useEffect(() => {
-    // Skip for spectators
-    if (isSpectator) return;
+    // Skip for spectators and reset count
+    if (isSpectator) {
+      setIdleWorkerCount(0);
+      return;
+    }
     const bridge = getWorkerBridge();
     if (!bridge) return;
 
diff --git a/src/components/game/WebGPUGameCanvas.tsx b/src/components/game/WebGPUGameCanvas.tsx
index 04040c58..538f8374 100644
--- a/src/components/game/WebGPUGameCanvas.tsx
+++ b/src/components/game/WebGPUGameCanvas.tsx
@@ -232,6 +232,8 @@ export function WebGPUGameCanvas() {
   const handleLoadingComplete = useCallback(() => {
     setIsLoading(false);
     useGameStore.getState().setGameReady(true);
+    // Sync playerId with game setup (handles spectator mode where localPlayerId is null)
+    useGameStore.getState().syncWithGameSetup();
 
     setTimeout(() => {
       const eventBus = workerBridgeRef.current?.eventBus;
diff --git a/src/store/gameStore.ts b/src/store/gameStore.ts
index 9fac69fd..96a5120d 100644
--- a/src/store/gameStore.ts
+++ b/src/store/gameStore.ts
@@ -447,9 +447,9 @@ export const useGameStore = create<GameState>((set, get) => ({
 
   syncWithGameSetup: () => {
     const localPlayerId = getLocalPlayerId();
-    if (localPlayerId) {
-      set({ playerId: localPlayerId });
-    }
+    // Set playerId to local player, or empty string if spectating
+    // This ensures we don't keep showing player1's data when spectating
+    set({ playerId: localPlayerId ?? '' });
   },
 
   reset: () => set(initialState),