Love and Deepspace is probably one of the most popular games you have never heard of. However, the developers have really messed up.
This was the situation: The popular otome game Love and Deepspace announced the werewolf character Valko on June 22, 2026, who players would be able to charm in the future. A new, attractive bachelor should have been a joyful event in a game that focuses on building relationships with the male protagonists (while saving the world from an alien threat).
Instead, fans reacted with anger and a literal shitstorm.
Fans bury the new character
What bothered the fans? Some were disturbed by the design of the werewolf tech CEO, as he with his red hair and angular facial features did not fit the design of the previous 5 love interests, who have more East Asian traits.
However, the much larger anger stemmed from players accusing the developers of preferring to introduce new characters instead of advancing the existing storylines. At this point, they were already supposed to have stagnated for over 500 days.
Especially in China, where the developer Paper Games is located, there was a particularly serious outcry when fans believed they found allusions to experiments on humans during World War II. Furthermore, the character’s macho behavior was viewed critically: it was seen as not romantic but overbearing.
Angry players reportedly even showed up in front of the headquarters of Paper Games, leaving items like chrysanthemums and cow dung as a form of protest. White and yellow chrysanthemums are used in connection with funerals and mourning. Other gifts
like sticky rice or pomelo leaves are used in cleansing rituals. The cow dung is probably quite universal and self-explanatory.
This is how the developers reacted: On the official Instagram account of Love and Deepspace, a multi-page statement appeared, in which the developers acknowledged their mistakes and promised to improve. It specifically states:
- The launch of the new character is canceled, and all further development on him is stopped. However, the remaining content that should have come with him will still be included in version 6.0. Planned event rewards will now be free for all players.
- The developers even go so far as to promise never to add a new love interest to the game again. Instead, the whole team will now focus on further developing the existing story and the “companion experience” with the existing characters.
- In addition, there will be compensations in the form of login bonuses for 30 days.
Is everything okay now? Not really, as the players who were looking forward to the new character are now disappointed. A YouTube video that aims to preserve the now-deleted character trailer for posterity collected almost 20,000 views within a day. Among the comments, players write:
- “I refuse to be made a widow before I even got to meet my dear Valko.”
- “I mourn him as if he were my husband lost at sea.”
- “I had already planned our wedding, and they deleted the groom.”
Some players demand that Valko could have been released at least in the West, where there were fewer specific concerns than in China. At this point, the developers probably had nothing more to gain anyway.
What would you send to a studio that keeps you waiting for new content for 500 days?
Just in May, Love and Deepspace had already caused a stir with an animal action. They turned players into a cat and, um, well… read for yourself: The action game that your girlfriend must never see makes players into a cat and lets them spank anime boys
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