When the topic of pricing came up, all the girls looked at Mo Li with anticipation.
"Let's hear what you think first," Mo Li said, tossing the question back to them instead of giving his own answer right away.
He wanted to see how high they rated Honkai Impact 3rd in their eyes.
The girls exchanged glances before Bronya spoke up first.
"Given Honkai 3's quality, we could easily charge at the same rate as Penguin's Otherworld."
Mo Li nodded inwardly.
Otherworld was Penguin's most profitable online game, using a prepaid-time model—and it was at the top end of pricing for such games.
In other words, the girls felt Honkai 3's quality was on par with Otherworld.
But Mo Li shook his head slightly.
"I'm not going with a prepaid-time model."
In terms of sheer content volume, Honkai 3 couldn't match Otherworld.
But in terms of gameplay and selling points, it was far superior.
Take the story alone—if it weren't a game, it would still make for an outstanding anime.
From version 1.0 to 7.0, the plot was so immersive it could take a full day to experience in one sitting.
"Huh?" The girls were surprised.
To them, the only alternatives to prepaid-time were buy-to-play.
Bronya was the first to question him:
"But… the game's only at version 1.2. If it's buy-to-play… how much could we even sell it for?"
"And the gameplay doesn't really suit buy-to-play…" Rita frowned, trying to talk Mo Li out of it.
Mo Li chuckled.
"This game… will be free to play."
Durandal: "??"
Himeko: "!!"
The rest were equally baffled.
"Boss," Rita said carefully, "we all want to make a game people love, but… we're not here to do charity."
"Right," Mei added softly. "It's already an amazing game. If you don't want to charge too much, we could just price it lower. If I were a player, I'd gladly spend money in a game this polished."
Seeing them all getting worked up, Mo Li raised a hand to stop them.
"Hear me out first. Free to play… but not completely free."
"You know there are many Valkyrie battlesuits in Honkai 3, each with different effects, right?"
He then carefully explained the game's monetization model.
The unpredictable thrill of gacha left the girls momentarily stunned.
Being gamers themselves, they quickly grasped the key point.
If Otherworld made money selling the game and gear,
Honkai 3 would sell character cards and weapon–stigmata sets.
The difference? Honkai 3's detailed models and rich character portrayals made players want to buy in.
And in the anime-game niche, everybody knew—nothing bled money from fans faster.
"This…"
Once they understood, the girls looked at Mo Li with newfound respect.
"What a waste of talent not to be a cunning merchant," Himeko laughed.
"Brilliant. The lure of 'free to play' will pull in even more people… even freeloaders might cave and buy a monthly pass," Rita noted.
Bronya blinked in realization.
"Buy a few of those and you've basically paid for a full game…"
Even Mo Li, calm as he tried to be, felt a little smug under the flood of praise from a group of beautiful girls.
Taking a strategic sip of water, he smiled.
"See? I'm no charity worker—I've got to eat too."
"Alright, take the next two days off. Once the game launches, you won't get much rest."
Mo Li was about to leave.
With discussion about Honkai 3 blazing on Douyin and Bilibili, he planned to use the official verified accounts there to keep the hype alive—posting gameplay clips and fan-made videos now and then.
At this point, the game's official accounts on both platforms had already passed two million followers.
Just as Mo Li was stepping out, Durandal suddenly gasped.
Everyone looked at her curiously.
"What is it, Dumb Goose?"
Mo Li found her reaction amusing—she was supposed to be the mature, alluring big sister type, yet often came across adorably absent-minded.
Durandal blinked, momentarily thrown by the nickname before explaining:
"Boss… my name is Durandal."
Mo Li grinned.
"I know. But don't you think 'Dumb Goose' sounds cute? Really suits you."
"Does it?"
Instead of getting annoyed, Durandal actually fell into serious thought about whether the nickname fit her.
"Pfft…" Rita couldn't hold back her laughter.
"I think it really suits Big Sis."
"Mm… it's cute," Himeko added.
"Alright, let's hear what Dumb Goose was about to say," Mo Li interrupted, steering the conversation back.
Durandal finally dropped her pondering.
"Boss, you just said the main selling point is character cards… Is that why you used us as templates for the game characters?"
"Eh?"
The girls froze for a moment before turning on Mo Li with narrowed eyes.
"Boss," Rita said sweetly, eyes narrowing further, "I think you owe us an explanation~"
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