Revision history: Arknights

Arknights is a free-to-play tower-defense RPG developed by Hypergryph in Shanghai. It launched in China on May 1, 2019, and worldwide on January 16, 2020, with Yostar publishing the global, Japanese, and Korean servers. [1] It is mobile-only and is known for a gacha design that predates the HoYoverse pattern and works differently from it.

Pull system

Main article: Headhunting

Pulls are called headhunting, and operators are the playable units. The published rules: [2]

Parameter	Value
Base 6-star rate	2% per pull
Escalation	if 50 pulls pass without a 6-star, the rate rises by 2% per pull (4% at pull 51, 6% at 52, and so on, reaching 100% by pull 99)
5-star floor	a 5-star or better is guaranteed within the first 10 pulls on each banner
Cost per pull	600 Orundum (or 1 Headhunting Permit)

This escalating-rate design is the main alternative to the fixed hard pity used by HoYoverse games: instead of a cliff at pull 90, the odds climb quickly after a dry streak, which caps bad luck at 99 pulls in the worst case and produces an average close to 34.6 pulls per 6-star (a widely cited community computation from the official rules). The escalation counter carries over between successive standard banners but is tracked separately on limited and collaboration banners. [2]

The featured guarantee is weaker than in most peers: on standard banners each 6-star has a 50% chance of being one of the two rate-up operators, with no loss protection. Limited banners guarantee a rate-up limited operator on the first 6-star after 150 pulls (once per banner), and collaboration banners guarantee the featured 6-star within 120 pulls. [2]

Spark system

Main article: Headhunting Data Contracts

Starting with the "Cremation Last Wish" limited banner in 2024, limited banners grant one Headhunting Data Contract per pull. 300 contracts can be exchanged for the banner's rate-up limited 6-star (75 for a rate-up 5-star). Contracts expire when the banner ends and convert into a small amount of shop currency, so the spark does not carry between banners. [3] In 2025 the exchange cost for much older shop operators was reduced from 300 to 200 contracts. [3]

Service status

Main article: Release history

The game is in active service as of July 2026; its global sixth-anniversary event ran in January and February 2026 with a limited banner using the 300-contract spark. [2] Its console-and-PC successor project, Arknights: Endfield, launched in January 2026 as a separate game while the original continues.

Arknights is a free-to-play tower-defense RPG developed by Hypergryph in Shanghai. It launched in China on May 1, 2019, and worldwide on January 16, 2020, with Yostar publishing the global, Japanese, and Korean servers. [1] It is mobile-only and is known for a gacha design that predates the HoYoverse pattern and works differently from it.

Pull system

Pulls are called headhunting, and operators are the playable units. The published rules: [2]

Parameter	Value
Base 6-star rate	2% per pull
Escalation	if 50 pulls pass without a 6-star, the rate rises by 2% per pull (4% at pull 51, 6% at 52, and so on, reaching 100% by pull 99)
5-star floor	a 5-star or better is guaranteed within the first 10 pulls on each banner
Cost per pull	600 Orundum (or 1 Headhunting Permit)

This escalating-rate design is the main alternative to the fixed hard pity used by HoYoverse games: instead of a cliff at pull 90, the odds climb quickly after a dry streak, which caps bad luck at 99 pulls in the worst case and produces an average close to 34.6 pulls per 6-star (a widely cited community computation from the official rules). The escalation counter carries over between successive standard banners but is tracked separately on limited and collaboration banners. [2]

The featured guarantee is weaker than in most peers: on standard banners each 6-star has a 50% chance of being one of the two rate-up operators, with no loss protection. Limited banners guarantee a rate-up limited operator on the first 6-star after 150 pulls (once per banner), and collaboration banners guarantee the featured 6-star within 120 pulls. [2]

Spark system

Starting with the "Cremation Last Wish" limited banner in 2024, limited banners grant one Headhunting Data Contract per pull. 300 contracts can be exchanged for the banner's rate-up limited 6-star (75 for a rate-up 5-star). Contracts expire when the banner ends and convert into a small amount of shop currency, so the spark does not carry between banners. [3] In 2025 the exchange cost for much older shop operators was reduced from 300 to 200 contracts. [3]

Service status

The game is in active service as of July 2026; its global sixth-anniversary event ran in January and February 2026 with a limited banner using the 300-contract spark. [2] Its console-and-PC successor project, Arknights: Endfield, launched in January 2026 as a separate game while the original continues.