Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium known as 少女前线2：追放 in Simplified Chinese, 少女前線2：追放 in Traditional Chinese, 소녀전선2: 망명 in Korean and ドールズフロントライン2：エクシリウム (Dolls' Frontline 2: Exilium) in Japanese, is a game by Sunborn's Mica Team using XCOM-lite, tactical two-dimensional Strategy RPG gameplay with 3D graphics. The game combines Non-Photorealistic Rendering typical of anime games with Physically Based Rendering, blending "anime"-style characters into realistic environments and clothes. It launched for PC, Android and iOS on 21 December 2023 in CN, on 3 December 2024 on the Global Sunborn servers, and on 5 December 2024 in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Haoplay Global servers. The game includes voice lines in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

The poster girl for the game is Groza.

Despite being a sequel, Girls' Frontline 2 runs alongside Girls' Frontline rather than replacing it. It is also due to run alongside Sunborn's next shooting titles, Girls' Frontline: Blue Butterfly Contract and Reverse Collapse: F.

Gameplay

T-Dolls

Unlike in Girls' Frontline, playable characters in Exilium are obtained from premium Gacha.

Each T-Doll can be of Standard or Elite rarity, belongs to one of four classes (Bulwark, Vanguard, Sentinel or Support) and wields one of seven weapon types. Handguns, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Rifles, Machine Guns and Shotguns were available in the first game, and Exilium adds Blades as a new weapon type. T-Dolls have access to five skills: a normal attack, two active skills, an ultimate skill and a passive skill. Skills are the primary method to apply Phases, which can be of type Burn (燃烧), Corrosion (酸蚀), Hydro (浊刻), Freeze (冷凝) or Electric (电导). Phases are explained in the lore by the influence of Collapse Particles. Attacks without phase are classified as Physical (物理). Phases and weapon types are important, as they can be used to exploit the weaknesses of enemies (see Gameplay). T-Dolls are enhanced by leveling up, Neural Fortification (requires duplicates of the Doll), Neural Helix and Key Regulation (where up to six bonuses can be assigned).

A T-Doll can wield any weapon from her assigned weapon type, even if it is not her preferred gun model. Weapons are also obtained in premium gacha and come in three rarities: Retired, Standard and Elite. They are enhanced separately by spending enhancement currencies and duplicates.

As in the first game, Dolls can receive costumes and weapons can also be customized. Increasing Affinity with the Dolls also grants major bonuses to stats and resources collection, making it more important than in the first game.

For information on the enhancement menu, read GFL2 Doll Enhancement. See also the Weapons List.

Teased Dolls

• ST AR-15 (shown in the 2022 trailer, mentioned in Robella's Records, teased in the Chiral Redundancy preview stream)
• Honey Badger (often mentioned by Cheeta)
• SV-98, SVD, 9A-91, AS Val, G41 (featured in Battlefield Echoes)
• ^HG Bren TenBren TenBren Ten, ^HG Grizzly MkVGrizzly MkVGrizzly MkV, ^SG M590M590M590, ^AR M82M82M82, ^AR OTs-12OTs-12OTs-12, ^RF PzB 39PzB 39PzB 39, ^HG USP CompactUSP CompactUSP Compact (featured in Dusty Journals)
• Welrod MkII (featured in Escape from Cyborg, teased in the Chiral Redundancy preview stream)
• PP-90 (featured in Escape from Cyborg)
• Lee-Enfield, Kar98k, M16A1 (mentioned in Springfield's Record)
• P30, Five-seveN (mentioned in Sabrina's Record)
• Hanyang Type 88 (Crew Deck cameo)
• Many characters from Project Neural Cloud are mentioned in the collab event Project Neural Convergence:

• Characters that made an appearance
  • Persicaria/Persicaria - Shining Edge
  • Antonina (Network Security Helper - 网络安全小助手)
  • Croque (Metal Suit Forever - 机兵狂热粉)
  • Sol (Blazing Blade of Leo - 疾焰狮子斩)
  • Eos (Glimmer of Dawn - 晨光曦微)
  • Nanaka (NotREAL?)
  • Hubble (The Stars My Destination - 星空探索者)
  • Sangoma (Lilac Herbalist - 紫丁香的草药师)
• Characters only mentioned
  • Kuro
  • Lam
  • Panakeia
  • Souchun
  • Betty
  • Ksenia
  • Rise
  • Abigail
  • Chanzhi
  • Choco
  • Hubble
  • Sunna
  • Hannah
  • Zion
  • Chelsea
  • Cascadia
  • Angela
  • Imhotep
  • Earhart

• IDW/Betty (cameo in Unforgettable Toy)
• AK-12(teased in the Chiral Redundancy preview stream)
• RFB (mentioned in Advance! Miss Courier!)
• G41 (teased in the 2nd Anniversary/Dawnforger preview stream, featured in Needy Cat Girl Overload)
• Type 56-1 (featured in Auspicious Gallop Into Spring)
• MDR/Kuro (featured in Amber Reel of Moonlight)

Other units

The Command Assault Vehicle is a special unit controlled only during Affinity upgrade missions.

Enemies are controlled instead of Dolls during the Inverse Cipher battle events.

Combat

Combat takes place turn-by-turn on a square grid containing various obstacles that can be used as cover to reduce incoming damage. Each party use their units during their turn, usually moving, then attacking. Some units can move after attacking, while others can attack outside of their turn using skills that enable preventive attacks, support attacks or retaliation attacks. The gameplay is often compared to modern entries of X-COM, though all attacks are guaranteed to hit in Exilium. A limited number of rewinds let players correct small mistakes.

Cover is directional, and so flanking or otherwise circumventing covers is at the core of the gameplay. Each unit on the field holds a certain amount of Stability Index. Incoming attacks reduce Stability, and once the index reaches zero, the unit loses the bulk of damage reduction from being in cover. Each unit has one or more weaknesses against a weapon type and a phase type, and will lose more Stability when receiving damage it is weak against. Skills are the main way to inflict phase damage and exploit these weaknesses.

An asynchronous PvP mode is available in the Combat Exercise mode. Players set a fixed team which is controlled by the CPU when challenged by another player. Another asynchronous PvP mode with ranking called Military Simulation was phased out after launch.

Facilities

“	We often see players jokingly refer to the Dormitory system as our core gameplay. —	”

The Public Area contains the Dormitories, where players can interact with unlocked Dolls, increase their Affinity and make a Covenant with them.

It also contains the Dispatch Room, where Dolls can be sent on commissions matching their personalities to gather more resources, like the Forward Base in the first game. The Dispatch Room also passively generates resources and contains an alternate gacha.

Premium Content

Recruitment (Doll gacha)

Like modern gachas and unlike the first game (where premium gacha was reserved for costumes), playable Dolls and their weapons are mostly obtained through premium gacha in Exilium. The main gacha currencies are the Access Permissions to access permanent banners, and Targeted Access Permissions for time-limited banners. Permissions are obtained in weekly or monthly shops, in events, or bought with Collapse Pieces, the game's main currency, at a rate of 150 per Permission. It's possible to convert the premium currency, Credit Tokens, into Collapse Pieces at a 1:1 rate. Not considering value packs and first-time buyer offers, 1 is worth 0.0165 USD and 1 is worth 2.475 USD.

Rules change between banners:

• In the permanently available Standard Procurement banner, during a single-pull, an Elite drop (Doll or weapon) has a base 0.6% chance of appearing, and a Standard drop (Doll or weapon) a base 6%, the rest of the drops being Retired weapons. Every tenth pull is guaranteed to grant a Standard or Elite drop. Elite drop rates become slightly enhanced after 58 pulls without obtaining an Elite drop. Elite drop rates continue to increase until the 80th pull, which is the “pity” limit and guarantees an Elite drop, at which point the enhanced drop rates are reset.
  • Because the Elite drop rate is shared between weapons and Dolls in the standard banner, the chance to drop any Elite Doll is actually 0.3%.
  • On this banner, one Elite target can be selected for Rate Up. After selecting a Rate Up target, the next Elite drop (pity or not) has 50% chance of being the target. If it isn't, the next Elite drop is guaranteed to be the target.
• Time-limited character banners are called Targeted Procurement. One time-limited Doll is added to the standard Elite Dolls pool. Only Elite Dolls can drop, not Elite weapons, which means that the base 0.6% Elite Doll drop rate is no longer cut in half. When an Elite drop occurs, it has 50% chance of being the featured Doll. This is nicknamed the "50/50" feature. If the featured Doll isn't obtained in the first Elite drop (at worst 80 pulls), she's guaranteed to be obtained with the second Elite drop (at worst 160 pulls).
  • On average, a bit more than 60 pulls can be obtained for free each month (read #Monthly currency income).
  • The worst possible case for obtaining a limited Doll (second pity aka "losing the 50/50", paid currencies only with no value packs) will cost 396 USD.
  • Rate enhancement and pity systems are the same as Standard Procurement.
  • The rules for Standard drops are the same as Standard Procurement, which gives a low chance to drop the Doll's signature Standard weapon. Military Upgrade banners give a better chance to obtain the signature Standard weapon, and are the only way to obtain the signature Elite weapon.
• Time-limited weapon banners are called Military Upgrade. One time-limited weapon is added to the standard Elite weapons pool. Only weapons can drop and not Dolls. The base Elite weapon rate is 0.7% and base Standard weapon rate is 7%. Rate enhancement begins after 50 pulls and guaranteed Elite weapon drop at 70 pulls. When an Elite drop occurs, it has 75% chance of being the featured weapon. If the featured weapon isn't obtained in the first Elite drop (at worst 70 pulls), it's guaranteed to be obtained in the next Elite drop (at worse 140 pulls).
• Occasionally, Custom Procurement banners are offered for characters and weapons. These banners function like Target Procurement and Military Upgrade banners, but the rate-up Doll or weapon can be selected from a list, and hitting the pity counter guarantees that the selected item will drop (one time only).

After any Elite drop (pity or not) has been obtained on a banner, the banner's pity counter is reset. Pity is shared between banners of the same type and is reset when the batch of banners expires. If the lights at the start of the pull animation are yellow instead of blue and Mayling does a V-sign, it contains an Elite drop.

Duplicate Dolls and weapons can be used to enhance those already owned. If a Doll has been fully enhanced and a duplicate drops, it is converted to 18 Redundant Pieces if it is Standard or 90 Redundant Pieces if it is Elite. Each Retired weapon pulled grants 2 Withdrawal Receipts, each Standard pull grants 12 Redundant Pieces and each Elite pull grants 60 Redundant Pieces. ( Redundant Pieces are also obtained by destroying weapons in the storage menu.) These currencies are used to acquire materials and Elite weapons in the Shop.

Withdrawal Receipts can also be used to buy 5 Access Permissions and 5 Targeted Access Permissions per month in the Growth Stack shop. Since the 2025-07-02 update in Global, an unlimited amount of Access Permissions and Targeted Access Permissions can be bought with Redundant Pieces in the Neural Integration shop at a rate of one per 30 , which means that a portion of gacha pulls are refunded in the form of .

Monthly currency income

Exilium's gacha is usually considered generous due to the amount of currencies accrued by playing the game regularly.

• Collapse Pieces
  • 20 daily from Daily Patrol in Platoon.
  • 30 daily from Combat Exercise.
  • 60 daily from Daily Activity.
  • 120 weekly from completing all four Bounties in Boundary Push.
  • 225 weekly from having completed all Peak Value Assessment battles in the past.
  • 500 every two weeks from completing every objective in the season of Expansion Drills.
  • 300 every three weeks from completing the individual ladder rewards in Gunsmoke Frontline.
  • 300 every three weeks from completing the Platoon ladder rewards in Gunsmoke Frontline. Add 500 if the Platoon ranked among the top 5%.
  • 55 monthly from the free tier of the Voyage Log pass.
  • 120 monthly from daily logins.
  • 300 monthly for participating in 15 matches during in the season of Military Simulation.
  • 300 every six weeks from the Weekly Supply Box.
• Standard banner pulls
  • 1 (150) weekly from Dispatch Shop.
  • 1 (150) every three weeks from the Daily Supply Box.
  • 5 (750) monthly from Boss Fight shop.
  • 5 (750) monthly from the free tier of the Voyage Log pass.
• Time-limited banner pulls
  • 1 (150) every three weeks from the Weekly Supply Box.

Story events usually run at a rate of one per month and net around 2000, plus 3 (450) and 3 (450) from the event shop. Extra permissions and Collapse Pieces may be unlocked from other story event objectives and minor events.

A player who is part of an active but not top-rank Platoon and who completes all monthly tasks will earn on average a bit over 8500 monthly. Factoring in free Targeted Access Permissions, this amounts to 60 free pulls on a time-limited banner per month on average. In practice, this amount is higher due to rewards from minor events, giveaways (from server maintenance compensations, taking part in surveys, playing character trials, etc), random drops from the Daily and Weekly Supply Boxes and the Platoon Daily Supplies, weekly Phase Clash random Surprise Drop, and reinvestment of currencies earned while pulling the gacha.

Outfit Procurement (Costume gacha)

Main article: Crew Deck#Outfit Procurement

Battle Pass and premium shop

Exilium features a 60-levels monthly Battle pass. The paying tiers are called Hunter's Path (9.99$) and Broker's Path (19.99$). Hunter's Path grants access to extra Targeted Access Permissions, and Broker's Path to extra resources and player card customization.

Premium costumes and weapon skins are purchased with Credit Tokens, which can also be used to purchase a few other resources in the shop. A variety of other subscriptions and packs granting resources and currencies can be bought through microtransactions.

Story

Main article: GFL2 Story

Main article: GFL2 NPCs

Exilium takes place in Eastern Europe in 2074, 12 years after the start of Girls' Frontline. After the emergence of the URNC and its taking over of the Neo-Soviet Union, Griffin and Kryuger has been forcibly downsized in the URNC's move to limit the power of PMCs. The Commander left to take part in the rise of bounty hunters, leading Tactical Dolls both familiar and new in the frontier region between contaminated and safe land aboard the Elmo mobile base. After accepting a suspicious commission to transport a mysterious box, the Commander is targeted by multiple forces who aim to seize the young girl contained inside. The Commander must protect the cargo and uncover old secrets and conspiracies linked to relics.

Like the first game, the narrative medium is primarily a visual novel, but character sprites have their faces animated with Live2D (similar to Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery), 3D cutscenes have been added and the main story is voice-acted. While Sunborn has stated that the story is sufficiently independent that it can be enjoyed without playing the first game, this is no longer applicable since Corposant.

Like the first game, the story is told in the permanent missions as well as limited-time Events. Additional lore in found in the Battlefield Echoes, Classified Briefings, loading screens and official website lore. Starting with season “Ashen Tale”, Artifact Recovery mode also contains side stories.

Locations

Black Zone (黒区)

Also called "Ground Zero", a dozen-kilometers wide impact crater emitting lethal levels of Collapse radiations. It's the final objective of the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Only ELID infected and mutated plants can survive here. Surface soil was vitrified mid-flight and formed sharp crystalline spires, and radioactive collapse storms regularly sweep the wastelands, destroying any living or electronic object. A mysterious tower in this zone contains the entrance to a relic and its research structures. Contamination level is over 10,000 FBA (弗必安).

Red Zone (红区)

A contaminated area near the Black Zone, still needing to be purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Humans or Dolls shouldn't enter the area without protective equipment, and be wary of ELID infected and unidentified roamers. The area is mostly made of deserts and deep ravines with a silicafied soil due to frequent exposure to high concentrations of collapse radiation. Most plants can't survive the soil erosion and frequent collapse storms, but in low terrain areas Epiphyllum flowers (with some regional variations) can grow in large clusters, which are able to lower radiation around them. However, during the flowering period, they sharply increase radiation concentration. Damaged beacons, overturned convoys and helicopter wrecks litter the area for reasons unknown. The original buildings are still standing, but badly damaged and with signs of post-contamination usage. Contamination level ranges from 150 to 10,000 FBA (弗必安).

Yellow Zone (黄区)

The frontier zone next to the Red Zone, soon to be purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Dolls can move in this area freely but humans still need protective equipment. ELID infected are not an infrequent sight, but bounty hunters, members of the Варяг (Varangian) gang and common residents also inhabit the area. The area has desertified, making dry deserts and deadwood forests a common sight. Areas with enough groundwater have turned into marshes, forming oases in low terrain and water-rich areas. Areas with abnormal climates or close to collapse radiation sources experience collapse storms, silicafying the soil and becoming blooming ground for Epiphyllum flowers. Beacons near green zones are well preserved and those near red zones are damaged. The original buildings are mostly in serviceable condition. Lots of abandoned resources can be found in cities and towns, so there are signs of the area being inhabited. However, residents need to draw from below 100 meters deep to find drinkable groundwater.

Contamination level ranges from 1 to 150 FBA (弗必安) and there are a number of Purification Towers called “Beacons”. Beacons near the Green Zone are in good condition, but those the Red Zone are damaged.

Purification Zone (净化区)

The frontier zone between Yellow and Green Zone, in process of being purified by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement, currently the core of the New Western Campaign. The Purification Zone's net radiation density is between Yellow and Green Zone on average, but there are local variations. Vegetation and terrain are still similar to a Yellow Zone. Low-hanging bushes are common, but trees are more rare due to a lack of water. Neo-Soviet Union troops occupy areas for extended periods of time, destroying buildings that were too damaged with explosives, and monitoring the passage of bounty hunters, PMCs and other paramilitaries. Since the livable buildings are occupied by the army, there are no permanent residents in the area.

Green Zone (绿区)

The most recently extended livable areas, without any dangerous levels of collapse radiation. Primary Green Zones have not been selected as targets for reconstruction efforts by the government. They have returned to a natural state, with regard to the amount of vegetation and water supply. Non-Primary Green Zones are still seeing purification processes, but are already livable, with vegetation starting to flourish again. These areas are the end results of the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. The plain terrain, with few geological depressions, makes for easy infrastructure construction. Most Green Zone residents are either workers in the factories of White Zone cities, bounty hunters, PMCs or black market merchants. They are implanted with ID chips that track their biological and social data. The demography is often controlled by corresponding White Zone cities. Non-Primary Green Zones are largely made up of factories, farms, and regionally-distributed satellite cities. These cities have a dense and chaotic urban structure, like twisting narrow alleys. During the day, these satellite cities are mostly empty, but at night, after the residents return home form work, the city limits blaze with light. Contamination level is under 1 FBA (弗必安).

White Zone (白区)

The safest zone possible. Cities surrounded by Green Zones and the best examples of purification by the European Collapse Radiation Contaminated Region Recovery and Revitalization Joint Development Agreement. Before World War Three, they were economic, governmental or military activity zones. They have since been cleansed of all sources of collapse radiation and contamination. Full suites of Collapse Radiation warning systems, pollution prevention, and safeguarding countermeasures have been installed. Urban areas are clearly defined to allow these systems to work at their fullest. Temperature and humidity are carefully regulated for the comfort of inhabitants. Every inch of space on, under and above ground is being used at its fullest to make up for the limited land available, making for fully vertical cities. Recreational facilities are generally found on the roofs of buildings. There are a few areas dedicated to vegetation, though some can be found on the edges of the cities. City traffic relies on dual-purpose elevated roads for cars and light railways. Most light rail stations are found inside buildings, with station names signposted outside the buildings. Car elevators are standard issue for all major buildings. White Zones are inhabited by normal residents and hired PMCs. Each White Zone City has a different population level and class structure, creating a variety of governance systems and cultural organizations. Contamination level is maintained at 0 FBA (弗必安) at all time.

Factions

Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition

The URNC governs over half of the world but its reach is weaker in contaminated zones, which is the reason for its investment in purification projects.

Private Military Contractors

These organizations originally emerged to provide cost-effective solutions to security concerns, but the market has now shrunk. They provide security and escort services and are now centrally managed by the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition's Paramilitary Forces Supervision Bureau (非军事力量管理局).

Griffin & Kryuger

Once a powerful Private Military Contractor staffed with many Tactical Dolls. After the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition was established, the world situation stabilized and G&K's influence was seen as a danger, so it was restructured and stripped of its power.

BRIEF

An organization promoting the rights and the development of bounty hunting (赏金猎人权益拓展及推进协会). They manage the activities of bounty hunters in the contaminated zones, providing resources to support their profit. They are not a regulatory authority but rather seek a mutually profitable partnership with independent bounty hunters.

Varjagers

In late 2067, the Union of Rossartrism Nations Coalition first sighted a new bandit group in the contaminated regions calling themselves the Varjagers (瓦良格帮). Recognizable by their uniform and well-armed, including assault mechs starting 2070, they specialize in cruel looting raids but no governmental action has been taken against them since they don't target purified regions. They are prime targets for bounty hunters.

Their name is derived from the Varangians, a medieval Viking group.

Sangvis Ferri

After the fall of the arms manufacturer, all of its patents fell into public domain and its physical assets were redistributed. Starting 2067, an increasing number of Sangvis Ferri robots and Dolls have started to appear in purified regions, produced in former SF plants reactivated by third-party manufacturers. In 2070, in the Green Zone city of Odesa, a case of a pet Dinergate gone haywire drew attention to a black market dedicated to modified and unsafe SF machines.

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Underground Brokers

Black market resellers traveling between the safe and contaminated areas, secretly buying and selling their merchandise. Their business has been dwindling due to the rise of bounty hunting.

Girard Group

The Girard Group (吉拉尔集团) is a powerful industrial company based in the Odesa region (奥德卅州), dealing in the production of machinery, infrastructure and R&D. They have developed strong ties to the region and contributed significantly to its purification project.

Their logo is similar to the logo of Svarog Heavy Industries' Cyclopes Sector in Magrasea.

ELID

With the progress in human treatment against ELID, the main danger posed by the disease has now shifted to the wildlife of the contaminated regions. The term "ELID Infected" has now been replaced by "ELID Silence Dread" or "living skeletons/hollows" (生骸) due to the changes occurring in contaminated animals. Despite how dangerous these animals are, some like the Obsidian Hare are captured and sold as pets, leading to casualties in owners.

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Development history

Beta gameplay (October 2020).

2022 Anniversary livestream teaser. From top right: Groza, Daiyan, Zhaohui, Dushevnaya, Lenna, Ullrid (in a non-final appearance), Littara, Makiatto, Sharkry, Andoris, Tololo, Nagant and Cheeta. Only Groza, Sharkry and Lenna had been shown at the time.

Artists who contributed to story and key art illustrations include 大蓝虾, 阿南刻7 and 鲸谜.

2018

Development for the game started in 2017.

Girls' Frontline 2 was announced as a 3D game on 18 May 2018 during the livestream for Girls' Frontline's second anniversary. Though an animated 3D model of ^AR HK416HK416HK416 was used in the teaser, the logo showed the silhouette of ^AR OTs-14OTs-14OTs-14. A Weibo post after the stream specified that the game was in early stages of development and was developed by a new team in parallel of Girls' Frontline's dev team. The name was announced as tentative.

2020

In 2020, the game underwent a complete development reboot.

The full title Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium was revealed on 15 May 2020 during MICA Team's 4th anniversary stream, alongside Project Neural Cloud and Girls' Frontline: Glitch Land. According to producer Yuzhong, the title “Exilium” (追放) embodies two aspects of the story: the Japanese reading of “exile” relates to certain important characters, while the Chinese reading of “chasing after what was set free” relates to the goal of the Commander. Compared to Project Neural Cloud, which was made more mainstream to expand the fanbase of the IP, Girls' Frontline 2 retains the post-apocalyptic/realistic atmosphere and hardcore-oriented gameplay of Girls' Frontline. The SLG (Simulation Game) and RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genres were considered for the sequel, but the Strategy RPG genre was ultimately selected for its storytelling potential and ease of control with both PC and mobile platforms. Vanguard Sound would continue to produce the music and microtransactions would transition to more mainstream model compared to Girls' Frontline. Motion capture was done by Chengdu Big Eyes Technology.

Early gameplay was shown during the franchise showcase stream in October 2020, demonstrating an early version of the stability, phase affinities and high ground advantage features still present in the final game. Abandoned features visible in this preview were a chance-to-hit/grazing damage and morale system.

2021

The technical side of development was deemed complete in January 2021, with focus switching to asset production. Producer Yuzhong and Director Smoke presented the game's features in the Beilan Island Shelter Broadcasts through 2021, such as the dorm system, cross-platform features between PC and mobile, plans for a CN dub and the weapon customization and gacha systems, and making a passing comment about the use of mods. A multiplayer mode was mentioned by Yuzhong in interviews. The game received a first closed beta test from 29 June to 3 July 2021 and a second from 18 to 31 October 2021. The non-final gacha system received special criticism. NPC artworks of Kalina, Persica and ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 (under the file name “laiya”) were found in the second closed beta.

The Dormitory system was implemented following feedback from beta players requesting more interactions with the characters, and would later evolved into the Crew Deck.

2022

Shanghai, where Sunborn's offices are located, was under COVID-19 lockdown from March to August 2022.

On 13 May 2022, as part of Girls' Frontline's 6th Anniversary, a second trailer was released on Weibo alongside new gameplay videos and new character reveals: ^SMG TMPTMPTMP, ^SMG PP-90PP-90PP-90, ^HG Welrod MkIIWelrod MkIIWelrod MkII, Vector, ^RF VSK-94VSK-94VSK-94, ^SMG UMP45UMP45UMP45 (with a new design), ^AR ST AR-15ST AR-15ST AR-15, ^SG DP-12DP-12DP-12 and Kalina in a trailer, and Daiyan, Zhaohui, Dushevnaya, Ullrid, Littara, Makiatto, Sharkry, Andoris, Tololo, Nagant and Cheeta in a portraits collection. The 3D trailer was produced by Wuhan-based 2:10 Animation (两点十分动漫), who worked on Honor of Kings, League of Legends: Wild Rift and Onmyoji. Military consultants, along with developers Yuzhong and Chijian (持剑), were brought in to review the 3D models of weapons and plan motion capture for the combat scenes.

2023

The game's registration was approved by China's National Press and Publication Administration on 22 March 2023 and the official preregistrations website was launched on 28 April. New gameplay footage was shown after the Girls' Frontline 7th Anniversary Music Festival on 15 July 2023. In July 2023, Sunborn submitted four patents to the China National Intellectual Property Administration regarding 3D rendering methods, one of which specifically covered the rendering of stockings. A third closed beta, titled “Spark Test”, was held from 20 July to 3 August 2023, and the first new Beilan Island Shelter Broadcast in nearly two years, with Art Director Daniel, announced some gameplay system simplification, redesigned player commanders and announced the first open beta test (OBT) in September. In an August 2023 interview, Yuzhong estimated that the expended budget spent on the game was over 100 million RMB (over 13.7 million USD or 12.8 million EUR at the time), and explained that the visual direction of the game was inspired by the game Code Vein. Characters are created over periods of 6 months.

The fourth beta test and first open beta, named “Gravitation Test”, took place from 28 September to 12 October 2023 on Android and PC. In episode 14 of the Beilan Island Shelter Broadcast released on 13 November, Yuzhong appeared on camera and addressed beta criticisms regarding lack of quality-of-life options and content in the dorm, unsatisfactory gameplay balance and story, and dearth of in-game resources, promising fixes in the release version. Centaureissi, Jiangyu and Springfield were announced in the 20 December 2023 prerelease livestream. CN servers opened for all platforms on 21 December 2023 (some assets referred to it as an Open Beta Test), containing story missions up to chapter 6.

TW and KR social media (Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts, Naver community) came online staring August 2023. KR accounts were managed by Project Neural Cloud KR distributor Haoplay, while TW accounts were managed by PNC TW distributor Peiyu Digital Entertainment, successor of Girls' Frontline TW distributor Longcheng.

2024

Sunborn committed to implementing major changes to the story, quality control of updates and player progression in a staff letter published 29 January 2024. Low player retention was also ascribed to the game's difficulty, causing Sunborn to rework player progression and refocus production to content over challenge. Klukai was implemented specifically to cater to the needs of players preferring to rely on automatic battle options, and auto-battle systems were refined before the launch of the other servers. A collaboration event with Project Neural Cloud was announced on 30 November during the preview stream for Mimisbrunnr's Loop, it eventually ran in September 2025 under the title Project Neural Convergence.

Peiyu showcased the game at the Taipei Game Show 2024 in January. JP and Haoplay Global social media came online in May 2024, while Darkwinter Global social media came online in June and July 2024. A CBT for PC and Android ran on Global's Sunborn launcher from 10 to 19 November 2024, with HaoPlay's version starting two days later as an open beta with limited places on PC, Android and iOS. Standalone clients were released for Sunborn's Global servers on 3 December 2024 and Haoplay servers (Global, TW, JP and KR) on 5 December (the official reason for the delay was to “ensure server stability”). These servers reportedly reached over 2 million players on the first day and revenue exceeded 100 million RMB in the first week (a January 2025 Gamelook report estimated the number was reached in only 3 days with KR server contributing most of it, and reached 400 millions after a month, compared to 20 million from CN servers over the same period).

2025

New high-difficulty content was announced in January 2025, which led to the implementation of Heroic Mode during events and Extreme Peak in Peak Value Assessment. Steam versions were released on 11 February 2025. It was announced at release that a general one-year gap would be enforced between the content in CN and other servers, but Yuzhong stated in July 2025 that the release schedule would accelerate and eventually become synchronized for all regions. Three events were compiled into Interstice of Reminiscence in September 2025 and additional resources were distributed.

On 22 May 2025, characters 3D models were officially released for fan-content production.

Since launch, the UI of the dorm system displayed that it was in a beta state, as Sunborn spent a year and a half developing a new system to interact with Dolls. A reworked Elmo menu and interactable 3D dorm system was announced during the first anniversary livestream, and shown again in July 2025 under the names “Elmo Ultra” (艾莫号Ultra), “Big Lounge” (大休息室) or Crew Deck (活动层) ahead of implementation on 1st August 2025. This update introduced Klukai's “Cerulean Breaker” costume, obtained at a 1.18% rate exclusively in a new costume gacha with a banner lasting over 330 days, and not available for direct purchase with Credit Tokens. Probability to obtain “Cerulean Breaker” would start to increase starting at 50 pulls, and be guaranteed at the 100th pull. Pulling on this new gacha required a new Outfit Access Permission, which couldn't be bought with Collapse Pieces in the general shop, only with 120 Credit Tokens per Permission. With 1 costing 0.1 CNY, using only premium Outfit Access Permissions and ignoring value packs, this meant that hitting the pity would cost 1200 CNY (about 167 USD at the time). Outside of one-time missions, Outfit Access Permissions could only be earned for free at a rate of one per week, through dorms-related weekly missions. The gacha also dropped Andoris' “Midnight Whisper” costume (1.21% drop rate), and costumes accessories for “Cerulean Breaker” and “Midnight Whisper”, weapon skins and rare dorm furnitures in a 12.09% drop rate pool. The remaining 85.52% drop rates of the pool was made of lower-rarity furniture, gift boxes and a new currency exclusive to the gacha, Breaker Coins. Duplicate gacha drops would also be converted into Breaker Coins. These Breaker Coins could be used in the costume gacha's “pity shop” (reminiscent of Girls' Frontline's Exchange Tickets) to obtain most of the items available in the gacha pool, with the notable exception of “Cerulean Breaker”. The "pity shop" was the only way to obtain Time Capsule - Pulse-Racing Night, an interactive scene for Makiatto's “Embroidered Bamboo, Blooming Shadows” costume (teased months prior without specified obtention method). This "pity shop" system meant that players could obtain the grand prize “Cerulean Breaker” before having obtained all items in the gacha pool, and need to continue pulling the gacha as the items couldn't be purchased with a currency unrelated to the gacha. Besides the gacha, furniture to be used in the new housing system could be purchased, for prices in the thousands for the most expensive, using Merkle Leaves, a new furniture currency obtained in weekly missions, but also with Credit Tokens at a 1:1 rate. Players pointed out that one furniture in the form of Mr. Pizza would cost more to acquire with premium currency in the game than as a physical plushie. The conditions surrounding these new systems were not communicated to players ahead of time.

The day after the system was implemented, 32 top-ranked Platoons in the CN version pledged to stop all in-game payment until the system was altered. A similar declaration was shared in the KR and Global servers. On 5 August, an in-game mail announced that selected players would be invited to Sunborn's HQ at H88 Yuehong Plaza, No. 88 Hongcao Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, on 17 August to discuss changes to the system. 20 players were selected. The meeting resulted in a 19 August patch including more ways to obtain furniture currency, free distribution of Makiatto's interaction and promise that the next interaction would also be free, availability of Standard-rarity costumes in the regular costume shop, reduction of the duration of gacha banners to coincide with major events, and reduction of premium prices in the furniture shop by 40%. Klukai's costume would remain exclusive to the gacha and drop rates unchanged. Changes would be implemented at launch for other servers, for the first anniversary on 26 November 2025. A second gacha costume was implemented for Loreley in December, with a secondary costume for Makiatto available both in the gacha and in the regular costume shop.

In September for CN and November for other servers, the Military Simulation asynchronous PVP mode was removed from the game due to balancing difficulties.

2026

With Chiral Redundancy, the Heavy Ordnance Corps unit category was introduced to the game alongside the new team-based Frontier Conquest mode and the challenging Iterative Corridor mode, intended for hardcore players.

In an interview published on 5 May, Yuzhong considered that the game was still in its early stages of operation, running on an average content update cycle of 18 updates a year, including small updates every 21 days and large updates every 42 days on average.

Story

The May 2020 announcement website placed the story in 2070, but this was changed to 2074 as soon as January 2021. Girls' Frontline contained a short flash-forward to 10 years later in Dual Randomness, released in August 2020.

On 9 October 2023, during the Gravitation Test, Sunborn issued an apology regarding content deemed inappropriate in Qiongjiu's storyline (apparently due to the use of quotes from founder of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong). An incomplete version of the first story event was datamined and drew criticism, though Sunborn never commented speficially on this matter. In a Beilan Island Shelter Broadcast the following month, Yuzhong announced that he would be revising the game's script, particularly in terms of “clashes with established setting” and “characterization”. In January 2024, after Daiyan's character event had run, Sunborn announced that its plot was being reworked by a new writing team and that the full story of Centaureissi's event would not be included in the event. Initially, Yuzhong had only provided the outline of Exilium's story and later feedback to the writers, but became more involved after the negative reviews, taking a lead writing role at the end of 2024. Yuzhong stated in a July 2025 interview that the goal of the rewrites was to refocus the story on main events and characters.

The new version of Daiyan's story event was added to the CN game in story archives on 19 November 2024. It was retitled Amidst Wings of Gray and Daiyan's event ran in other servers under this name, with the new story, in January 2025. Centaureissi's new story, titled “Bitter Thorns and Daisies”, was added to the archives in CN on 21 January 2025, but ran in other servers under the same name as the original CN event, Zucchero Café. The original stories of Daiyan and Centaureissi's events were side-stories, but the rewrites are strongly connected to the main story. They were eventually promoted to main story chapters 8.3 and 8.7 in the March 2025 CN patch, reintroducing the system of decimal chapter numbers from Girls' Frontline.

In the Breaking Butterfly May 2025 patch on CN, Sojourners of the Glass Island was promoted from side story to main story chapters 6.5 and 6.7, becoming two interstitial chapters between chapters 6 and 7, possibly to serve as an introduction to the Mephisto Agreement. Additionaly, Deep Oblivion was promoted to chapters 11 and 12. Unlike Aphelion, where the story parts numbering made it clear that the event corresponded to main story chapters 9 and 10, Deep Oblivion's story parts are not using the main story nomenclature. Future story events would receive similar promotions while lacking any clear indication of being part of the main story at the time of their release.

In the June 2025 patch, the story of Lenna's event was rewritten and promoted to chapter 12.5 of the main story, and the story of Zhaohui's event was updated to reflect the changes in other stories.

In the Project Neural Convergence update of September 2025 in CN, the three parts of story event Corposant were added to the campaign as chapters 13, 13.5 and 14. With the Dawnforger update of December 2025, Corposant was renumbered as chapters 13, 14 and 15, and Antiparallel was added to the campaign as chapters 16 and 17. Dawnforger was promoted to chapters 18 and 19 during the Chiral Redundancy update.

Credits

These credits were shared with the first reveal of the intro animation on 15 July 2023. They're not present in the game itself.

• Art Director: Daniel Wu
• Lead Concept Artist: Wongpanda
• Technical Directors: 老马, 小飞
• Lead Programmers: Tony, 深藍
• Lead Project Manager: 思杰
• Quality Assurance Lead: 老段
• Head Writer: Star
• Lead Designer: KK
• Design Director: 7Y
• Producer, Game Director: 羽中

Casting

Girls' Frontline 2 is the first Girls' Frontline game to feature voices in other languages than Japanese: Chinese and Korean. The voice language can be selected separately from text language in the settings. While all in-gameplay Dolls are voiced, not all story chapters are. This is also the first game where the Commander is voiced.

As of December 2025, the majority of returning characters are voiced by the same VA from Girls' Frontline and Project Neural Cloud, while new characters are voiced by new VAs. The exceptions to these are Harpsy, Leva due to her original VA retiring, Daiyan who had her VA changed and voice lines re-recorded in December 2024, and Zhaohui, Colphne and Lotta who are new characters voiced by returning VAs.

Unused content

Main article: Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium/Beta

Merchandising

Characters and designs specific to the game have received their own pieces of merchandising, including Figures, acrylic stands and plushies (especially Mr. Pizza).

A Klukai voice and theme were added to the Baidu Maps (百度地图) GPS application on 9 September 2024. In December 2024, as part of a promotional event with China Post, players who completed an in-game event could enter a raffle where they wrote a letter to Groza, Klukai or Springfield for a chance to receive a physical response letter with a unique packaging. A Leva-themed goodies box released in March 2025 contained a physical Covenant certificate with augmented reality features and a download link for an audio message. A collab with Maidjump themed cafes ran in March and April 2025. The Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu featured the game in issue 1928 with an exclusive illustration. In January 2026, earbuds brand Moondrop sold their second Girls' Frontline product, themed around Klukai (the previous collaboration was during the 2023 concert).

A series of Japanese voice dramas has been announced. The first volume released on DLSite centered on Klukai released on 16 April 2026 (for 416 Day), at a price of 700¥ for the base version or 3000¥ with the bonus ASMR track.

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  Augmented reality Leva merch.
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  Anime University Coop 2025 theme cafe collab.
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  Frank Burger collab in KR.
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  Famitsu #1928.

Live events

New York Itasha Parade

On November 26, events were organized in New York to promote the game's Global release. A Tesla Cybertruck with an Exilium livery and cosplayers visited hot spots of the city and ads played on the Time Square big screens.

Akihabara QR Code Collab

Girls' Frontline 2 partnered with ten local businesses in Akihabara between December 16 2024 and December 30 2024 to display cardboard cutouts of T-Dolls with QR codes that could be redeemed for in-game items. Unlike prior similar live in-person collabs in Akihabara with Girls' Frontline 1 in 2018 and 2019, it appeared no purchase from the local businesses was necessary to participate in the event. Players who collected multiple QR codes were entered in raffle with prizes that included a Steam Deck OLED and Amazon gift certificates.

Akihabara Radio Kaikan 2024

Keeping with MICA's recent trend of not attending Comiket directly with a corporate booth, Girls' Frontline 2 instead had a collaboration with Akihabara Radio Kaikan in the 10th floor event space during the dates of Comiket 105 on December 29 2024 and December 30 2024. The event space featured decorative displays, cardboard cutouts of T-Dolls, and a section showcasing prior merchandise from previous MICA games. Various goods were available for sale to celebrate the recent launch of the JP Girls' Frontline 2 service including acrylic stands, desk mats, calendars, rubber straps, and hotel key chains.

Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Gallery

Permanent expo in Seoul opened on 25 December 2025.

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Gallery

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  CN logo.
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  TW logo.
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  JP logo.
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  KR logo.
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  English logo.
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  Prerelease app icons.
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  Early trailer stills.
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  October 2020 concepts.
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  Promo artwork for Chinajoy 2020.
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  Artworks and screenshots from January 2021.
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  Unpublished artworks used in the marketing for Girls' Frontline 5th Anniversary.
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  Closed Beta promotional artworks.
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  Girls' Frontline 6th Anniversary PV key art.
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  2022 PV design sheets by 2:10 Animation.
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  Non-final Commander models in third beta.
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  2023 Qixi Promo Illustration.
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  2023 New Year Promo Illustration.
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  2024 New Year Promo Illustration.
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  2024 Chinese New Year promo illustrations.
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  Children Day 2024.
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  2024 Mid-Autumn Festival promo illustrations.
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  2024 Chuseok promo illustration.
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  2024 Halloween.
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  2024 Dragon Boat Festival.
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  Preregistration milstone artworks.
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  Gravitation Test key art.
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  All-platforms open beta artwork.
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  Release countdown artworks.
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  CN release artwork.
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  Global release artworks.
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  First Anniversary artworks.
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  Christmas 2025 artworks.
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  New Year 2025 artworks.
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  2025 Chinese New Year promo illustrations.
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  Global Half-Anniversary.
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  Children Day 2025.
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  Zansho-Mimai 2025.
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  Golden Week 2025.
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  Halloween 2025.
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  CN server 2nd Anniversary
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  Global server 1st Anniversary
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  Christmas 2026.
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  New Year 2026.
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  Chinese New Year 2026.
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  Lantern Festival 2026.
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  Mobile Armored Base “Elmo”.
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  Chibi Mayling announcing updates.
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  Socials mascot Dinergate “Little Mo”.
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Links

Chinese

• Mainland
  • Official website
  • Official forums
  • Official wiki
  • Taptap page (Archive)
  • Taptap announcement (Archive)
  • Official Weibo account
  • Weibo Super Topic
  • Official Bilibili account
  • Mascot Weibo account
  • Mascot Bilibili account
• Taiwan
  • Website (HaoPlay)
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

English

• Official website
• Twitter account
• YouTube account
• Mascot Twitter Account
• HaoPlay links
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Korean

• Website (HaoPlay)
• Twitter account
• Facebook
• YouTube channel
• Naver community

Japanese

• Website (HaoPlay)
• Twitter account
• YouTube
• Mascot Twitter account

Medias

• Official 3D models
  • Official Website
  • Official Aplaybox account
• Second PV
• Launch trailer “Frontline without Girls” (CN) (music by MeLo, 大九_LN and Kinoko蘑菇 for Vanguard Sound) (reused as start screen video starting at first anniversary)
  • JP version on Weibo (music by MeLo, 大九_LN and Polyblue for Vanguard Sound)
  • JP version on EN YouTube with translated lyrics (reused as EN Beta trailer and start screen video starting at first anniversary)
• KR live-action trailer “Post Apocalypse”
• Meet & Greet (July 2023 prerelease randomized virtual video call with Groza, Peritya, Vepley, Krolik or Nemesis)
  • Groza
  • Nemesis
  • Vepley
  • Peritya
  • Krolik
• Turbulence - Telephone Booth (December 2023 prerelease randomized virtual video call with Groza, Peritya, Vepley, Qiongjiu, Tololo or Sabrina)
  • Available in English only for Groza, Qiongjiu, Peritya and Vepley
• 2025 Anniversary Live PV
  • YouTube (Global 1st Anniversary)
  • Bilibili (CN 2nd Anniversary)

References

Games Released: Girl of the Bakehouse · Codename: Bakery Girl · Girls' Frontline · Project Neural Cloud · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery · Girls' Frontline: Fire Control In development: Fingertips Breakout · Reverse Collapse: F · Girls' Frontline: Blue Butterfly Contract Canceled: Girls' Frontline: Glitch Land Anime Girls' Frontline (anime) · Healing Chapter & Madness Chapter Books Guns&Girls · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.1 · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.2 · The Art of Girls' Frontline Vol.3 · Confidential Files · Frankfurt Battle Report · Girls' Frontline: Doll's Song · Others Music Withered · Codename: Bakery Girl Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline Original Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Original Soundtrack · Project Neural Cloud Original Soundtrack · Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery Soundtrack · Girls' Frontline ECHOES · Mankind Is No longer Solitary · Girls' Frontline Concerts Companies Big Firebird and Liverless · Sunborn (Mica Team) · Vanguard Sound · Game publishers Community Community Resources · Community Events Betas Girls' Frontline · Project Neural Cloud · Girls' Frontline 2: Exilium Misc. April Fools · Arknights · Back to the Source · Content Ratings · Figures · GFL2 Website · List of cultural references · Minigames · Shadow Confrontation · Tale of Intersecting Dimensional Interstice