When it comes to the most legendary rivalry in the Chinese gacha gaming scene, the so-called "Five Black Frames" saga — involving Yu Zhong (founder of MICA Team / Sunborn Network) and Haimao (founder of Hypergryph) who were once colleagues — is the gift that keeps on giving. And now, a brand new chapter: players have spotted that Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium (nicknamed 'Exilium') is introducing a pull-back coupon gacha mechanic that appears to be borrowed directly from Arknights: Endfield, a game developed by Haimao's company Hypergryph.
Here's how the system works: when you pull on the current character banner up to certain thresholds, you receive special gacha coupons that can only be used on the next banner. In other words, the more you invest this round, the cheaper next round becomes. This is essentially the same pull-back coupon mechanic pioneered by Arknights: Endfield.
The comment section erupted almost immediately. Some players were purely positive: "Pull-back coupons? And they're usable? That's basically a price drop — great news!" But someone quickly pointed out the elephant in the room: "This is Endfield's banner mechanic... Yu Zhong put his former colleague Haimao's gacha system into his own game." Suddenly, the gossip had a lot more flavor.
Of course, there were rational takes too. One player analyzed the business logic: "Exilium's current sales strategy is selling skins to casual players and selling duplicate copies (constellations) to big spenders. Giving out more banner rewards lets casual players comfortably collect every character, reducing the temptation to skip banners and hoard for dupes, which in turn drives skin sales. And for whales, it's real savings." From a business standpoint, the mechanic actually fits Exilium's monetization model quite well.
However, some players raised concerns: "This definitely helps completionist players maintain daily activity, but if you miss one banner, coming back means you've wasted all those accumulated coupons." Since the coupons expire for only the next banner, skipping even one cycle means losing out entirely. The mechanic is essentially a disguised daily login retention hook — killing two birds with one stone.
Some onlookers tried to play peacemaker: "Multiple developers have already adopted Endfield's system by now — doesn't that prove it has merit?" Fair point, but the thing is: anyone else borrowing it is fine. When Yu Zhong borrows from Haimao specifically, the 'Five Black Frames' crowd simply cannot stay quiet.
While the debate raged on, veteran Exilium players took the opportunity to flex the game's Children's Day skins, adding their own pitch: "You can get a full collection as a free-to-play player now, though maxing out dupes is still expensive. At this point, most spending on Exilium goes toward skins anyway." Apparently, no matter how the gacha system changes, cosmetics remain the ultimate endgame.
One player delivered the most concise summary: "A price drop is a price drop, and that's a good thing." Fair enough — who cares about the origin story when your wallet's winning? But as for how the 'Five Black Frames' drama will develop next? Well, the bullet's still in the air.
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