Endfield Studios hires an actual satellite to send players' names into space

I know gacha games make an absurd amount of money, but I didn't know it meant 'space-to-space' money. Arknights: Endfield is almost here (it launches on January 22), and to celebrate, Hypergryph, the studio behind the Arknights universe and the upcoming highly anticipated gacha game, is doing something extraordinary. It's offering you, Arknights superfan, a trip to space.

Well, sort of. As part of the Voyage To The Stars launch program, you'll need to register your in-game name on the website, Hypergryph will note it down at a processing center in Singapore, send it to mainland China, place it inside a model of something called 'Protocol-Originium', and blast it into space on a satellite.

The Voyage To The Stars program

If you like the idea of having your in-game name orbit the Earth, you have until March 4, 2026 to register your in-game name for the event. Visit the official website here and enter your Gryphline account details.

You can register for an account right away, even though the game isn't out yet. Once the game starts, Hypergryph will collect your user ID and engrave it into the model ready for the big trip.

I'm pretty sure it's not Hypergryph's own satellite, but they rent space on an existing satellite launch. CNSA, the China National Space Administration, plans to launch 311 commercial satellites by 2025. I imagine we'll be going to one of these in the next few months.

Alternatively, it could be a 'cubesat' launch. According to the European Space Agency, these are small, not much bigger than a Rubik's Cube. These things are hobbies and space companies are able to start relatively cheaply. I can't wait to be a cute bit of space debris.

I don't know how much something like this would cost or how long the satellite would stay in space, but it's a novel piece of marketing that fits Endfield's theme.

Hypergryph will carefully check names for sensitive or potentially offensive content, so keep things clean. I don't want to hear anything about anyone's feet.