Girls' Frontline 2 Gets Outpaced by Cookie Run on Launch Day — Can't Even Beat Azur Lane in Revenue Rankings

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium (少前2：追放) officially launched on December 26, 2023 — a day that should have been Sunborn Network's moment of triumph. But just two days later, NGA forum users were already dumping revenue ranking screenshots, with a title dripping with sarcasm: 'A few charts to show you the REAL weight of GFL2's launch numbers.'

The charts compared revenue rankings across mobile titles, and the most brutal part wasn't GFL2's low placement — it was that Cookie Run: Kingdom (姜饼人), a Tencent-backed title launching on the EXACT same day, was already crushing it in the rankings. The OP casually added: 'Oh right, Cookie Run launched today too' — the implication being painfully obvious.

The comments section erupted. One player noted: 'Cookie Run has Tencent's entire ecosystem funneling traffic to it — even just sipping from that pipeline gives it higher visibility than GFL2's paid marketing.' True, but the real sting was that GFL2 couldn't even overtake Azur Lane (碧蓝航线), a title that's been running for YEARS.

Someone delivered the kill shot: 'Girls' Frontline 1 couldn't beat Azur Lane, and now GFL2 can't either.' Another went nuclear: 'Soon the entire Sunborn lineup (GFL1 + GFL2 + Neural Cloud) is going to get 1v3'd by Azur Lane alone.' For a brand-new launch title to lose to a years-old competitor — that's a level of embarrassment that's hard to sugarcoat.

Of course, some players tried the classic 'PC revenue black box' copium — claiming there's massive hidden spending on the PC client. But the reply was devastating: 'Just wait for the PC black box to launch its offensive and turn the tables on Azur Lane' — pure, unfiltered sarcasm.

The cherry on top? A commenter revealed that Sunborn's founder and series producer Yu Zhong (羽中) is reportedly 'quite satisfied' with the launch numbers. Players were absolutely livid — someone fired back: 'GFL2 has nothing going for it except the art.'

As for WHY GFL2 flopped, the classic 'ML waifu exile' theory reared its head again. One furious player ranted: 'This is what happens when you keep cutting ties with the waifu crowd (ML = Master Love players who want romantic bonds with characters). Cut deeper and die faster.' The accusation is that GFL2's story deliberately distanced itself from its core fanbase of waifu enjoyers — and the revenue numbers seem to be the receipt.

Someone capped the whole spectacle with a meme for the ages: 'Once Girls' Frontline 3 launches its offensive, everything will be fine' — a reference to the iconic scene from 'Downfall' where Hitler delusionally orders nonexistent divisions to attack. The implication? GFL3 might be Sunborn's last hope, but given the current trajectory, that hope might just be pure copium.