Papergames — the waifu factory — drops a FREE souls-like action RPG, and the hardcore community is losing it

A company that made its fortune selling virtual dresses and dating sim boyfriends just announced a free-to-play souls-like action RPG. If that sentence doesn't make you sweat, you clearly haven't spent enough time on NGA.

Here's what happened: Papergames' TipsWorks Studio (the team behind Pascal's Wager, a well-regarded mobile souls-like) officially revealed their new project — Everything's Contract, a "cross-platform free-to-play action RPG." On paper, a solid pedigree. But slap the Papergames name on it and make it F2P, and the NGA community goes nuclear.

The original post linked to a Bilibili trailer that actually looks decent, but nobody in the comments cared about graphics. One top-voted comment cuts straight to the bone: "Papergames' 'mixed toilet' game — male players are SO lucky." In NGA slang, "mixed toilet" (混厕) is a derogatory term for games that originally targeted a specific audience (usually female) but then tried to go mainstream and attract everyone. Papergames, famous for titles like Mr. Love: Queen's Choice and Shining Nikki, suddenly jumping into hardcore action RPG territory? To many male gamers, it feels like an invasion.

Then came the million-dollar question: "Can you invade other players in this game like in Dark Souls? If I can kill [certain player types], I might consider buying a monthly pass." The reply was instant and brutal: "Those players will definitely use hacks against you, and the devs will play favorites like they always do — you hack back and YOU get banned." The distrust in Papergames' operational neutrality runs deep.

What really sent the discussion into overdrive was the word "free." A heavily upvoted comment reads: "A free-to-play cross-platform game from Papergames — I'll just say this: the odds of them selling ONLY battle passes and skins approach zero." Another user piled on: "Free-to-play? Looking forward to the Four Killers paying a visit" — referencing a well-known NGA meme about specific types of disruptive players who supposedly follow certain game companies.

The comment section then devolved into a "P2W Souls-like Brainstorm Session": "6 yuan for dual greatswords, 648 yuan to learn Soul Stream, cumulative top-up for a golden Shining Ring, limited-time rate-up for Moonlight Greatsword" — packaging classic Souls weapons as mobile gacha cash shop bundles with horrifyingly accurate formatting. Others lamented: "The moment a Souls veteran sees 'free-to-play,' every alarm bell goes off" and "If it were a premium single-player game I'd respect them — F2P means I'm worried it'll be another predatory trap. I'll just go play Elden Ring instead."

Some tried to add nuance, pointing out that Papergames has been actively diversifying beyond female-oriented games: "Papergames acquired several studios to break out of the otome/female-oriented niche. Wonder how Reverse Dive is doing" — but was immediately shot down with: "Isn't that game already dead?" (using Chinese internet slang where "dead" is spelled with a homophone for comedic effect). Another user tried steering the conversation back to the genre itself: "Can an action RPG even be called a 'mixed toilet' game?" — a reasonable point, but drowned out by the tide of memes.

Others connected the dots to Papergames' financial trajectory: "You can tell Deep Space really gave Papergames a massive blood transfusion" — referring to Infinity Nikki's commercial success, which seemingly gave the company the resources and confidence to venture into unfamiliar territory. Someone even joked: "Watch, in a few months they'll be saying female gamers saved the souls-like genre too."

Everything's Contract is slated for 2025, with no details yet on its monetization model or actual gameplay specifics. But the unholy trinity of "Papergames + F2P + Souls-like" has already put the NGA community into full "pre-judging the disaster" mode. Is this a misunderstood gem waiting to shine, or another case of a company's DNA clashing with a genre it has no business touching? Only the hands-on demo will tell.

To close, here's a user's perfectly ambiguous summary: "A souls-like MMO? Now THAT'S creative." Whether that's praise or sarcasm is left as an exercise for the reader.