Love and Deepspace ’s first day at Anime Expo has wrapped up with happy fans sharing their experiences and interactions with the cosplayers of their favorite character online. However, these past two weeks have been full of turmoil and unease, with issues still waiting to be resolved. Why the sudden, drastic changes in Love and Deepspace’s on-site activities at AX? And why is there a Lost Puppy Memorial on the AX grounds? Why is everyone in a mourning mood and who even is this Valko guy? What did he do to get cancelled?
Here’s what’s going on.
For the uninitiated, Love and Deepspace is a mobile game that combines many genres into one. It’s developed by Papergames, and outside of mainland China, the operations are handled by Infold Games. Love and Deepspace, abbreviated by fans as LaDS, is a gacha game that incorporates romance where, using the in-game currency, players can acquire the desired love interest’s card from a pool. Players experience the game through a main character and there’s a main narrative line where every love interest is a puzzle piece in the grand scheme; meanwhile, the game provides interactive stories or circumstances with the love interests.
However, it is also an action game with strong and detailed battle mechanics where players have to be strategic when forming particular teams or using particular weaponry depending on the trial or the enemy. From the highly customizable photo studio or the journal section to the house feature that was implemented at the beginning of 2026, where players can now design their homes, collect furniture, and tend to their gardens, there’s something to love in this game for everyone. Each player is drawn to certain aspects that they’re interested in, whether it’s the romance, the battle, the lore, or design. The game provides a diverse experience, yet it’s a fact that players’ expectations on which part of the game should be improved are also varied. Even at odds with each other at times.
The game has enjoyed great commercial success and become the first otome game to ever be nominated for and win an award at Gamescom, taking the Best Mobile Game award home in 2025. Despite all the love the game receives from its fans and success it enjoys, the reasons behind the sudden spotlight are not exactly as charming as the love interests in the game.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of what has been going on with regards to the game and what the current situation is.
Unease and frustration have been brewing on players’ side long before the Version 6.0 update and the love interest Valko. It was heavily hinted that the game would have 6 love interests in total; however, upon the game’s launch in January 2024, only three of them, Zayne, Rafayel and Xavier, were revealed. On July 15th, 2024, fourth love interest Sylus was introduced; on January 22nd, 2025, fifth love interest Caleb joined the crew. Their introductions were all aligned with their main story appearances, and if he were to be released as intended, the upcoming main story chapters presumably would center around Valko and his meeting with the main character.
One of the main frustrations with regards to the game was the slow pace of the main story updates, and despite the first three love interests having their own branches in the narrative, Sylus and Caleb’s were (and still are) missing. Additionally, Sylus and Caleb still lack cards and content that can affect the in-game battle strategies and their fans’ interactions with them. Overall, there’s a striking imbalance between the leads.
Apart from pace-related issues, fans have also been demanding more ways to gain in-game currency, diamonds, used to get these cards. The game offers a wide range of skin tones for the player to customize their character; however, the lighting in certain scenes isn’t catered to darker tones and the players have been pushing for a fix. Below, you can see how darker skinned main characters look like in certain scenes shared on Reddit.
From deliberate mistranslations in the English localization to not adding new items to the preexisting in-game shops, there are many aspects of Love and Deepspace its fans want improvements on and have been trying to communicate with the company for a change.
The new features that came with the Version 5.0 update and the new main story chapter To Our Yesterday at the beginning of 2026 weren’t enough to appease fans’ anxiety, leaving many other demands unaddressed. When the time for the next update was drawing near and the possibility of the new love interest being introduced was buzzing in the corridors of social media platforms, the trailer dropped on June 22nd as rumored. And describing what the wolf boy has caused as a “commotion“ would be an understatement.
On the Chinese side, the negative reaction to the new love interest Valko was immediately visible from the difference in the number of likes and comments. While some Chinese players were still concerned about his introduction delaying other leads’ stories further more, there have also been discriminative comments on his skin color, that his character design would “appeal to men“ and not to women with how buff he is, that he “looks gay“, going so far as to demanding that the company clarify the sexual orientation of its characters, that he was “created for Westerners“, or directed racist comments towards players of color who liked his design and were looking forward to meet him.
Other players have reminded that the very same criticism was directed at Sylus upon his release, both regarding his skin color and nose shape, later on becoming widely popular and winning the players’ favorite male character award at Tap Tap Game Awards in 2025. Now the target is said to be Valko.
Meanwhile, the global fandom’s reaction to him was mainly positive and humorous, jokingly drawing parallels to the movie adaptation of Twilight since Valko is a wolf and Sylus is depicted as a vampire-like fiend in a past life. His warm, honest and playful mannerisms paired with his buff build have immediately put people under his spell and he even garnered attention from the non-players. Hence, the immense gap between these reactions from the two sides of the fandom was a topic of conversation.
There were players still dissatisfied with the Version 6.0 live stream since there were no concrete announcements regarding the improvements of what they have been asking for, some complaining, sympathizing with Chinese players that the company is focusing more on the new character Valko instead of catching up with missing branches. On June 27th, there was an official statement released on the official X (formerly Twitter) account and part of the announcement aimed to reassure fans by stating that:
We have also heard your concerns about whether future content can continue to be delivered consistently without compromising on quality.
Please be assured that the Love and Deepspace development team has continued to grow since the game’s launch. The Main Story chapters you have been waiting for are currently in active development. The stories of Farspace Colonel Caleb and Onychinus Leader Sylus will continue, and the new series of Solar-Slot Memories will also be arriving soon. The development team will continue to deliver richer game experiences and high-quality content on a consistent basis.
Using ambiguous wording and providing no specific date for Sylus and Caleb’s story branches, while addressing no other concerns, only contributed to the avalanche that was already put in motion. As scheduled, Valko’s introduction video in full was uploaded on June 28th, and the tone and accusations shifted entirely.
Chinese players started to bring up 731, a number used in one of the earlier anecdotes, in-game written stories that provide more information with regards to the main story and characters. They argued it was insensitive of the company to use this number even if it wasn’t a direct reference to Unit 731. This unit refers to a secret research facility formed by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War to conduct experiments on humans and the development of biological/chemical warfare that resulted in the killing of an estimated 14.000 people in the facility itself. While certain fans drew attention to this detail, others have reminded that the aforementioned number has already been in the game since April and has no relation to Valko. The anecdote belongs to another love interest’s story, Xavier, and these players call the timing of this uproar into question.
Another opposition to Valko as a love interest was based on Valko’s behavior towards the main character in the introduction video, which is not available on Love and Deepspace’s website and is unlisted on the YouTube channel as of now, but available on X. In the trailer, Valko is seen appearing at the main character’s balcony unannounced, inviting himself into her home and acting really close and intimate for two characters who should practically be strangers at this point in the narrative. A sizeable group of fans has criticized this behavior coming from a male lead in a game that’s “supposed to cater to women”.
Despite the previous trailer specifying that their immediate connection and attraction is due to their genetic compatibility and the two characters “fit like puzzle pieces“, Valko’s behavior was labeled as “problematic“ by many. The rest of the fans were quick to push back, stating that Love and Deepspace has never shied away from depictions of unhealthy behavior and incorporating darker themes into its narrative: stalking, blurred ethical and familial lines, and coercion being a few of them. Moreover, the entry scene in the trailer is an optional encounter you can only experience if you choose to interact with Valko or acquire his cards. Thus, fans who push back believe that bringing up Unit 731, the reference to the Three Little Pigs story, or Valko’s behavior seen briefly on screen are simply used to get Valko out of the picture.
Papergames did release a statement on July 29th addressing all of the accusations above only on the game’s official Rednote account, and in Chinese only. A fan shared a machine-translated version of the statement on X.
As reported on GamingonPhone, the online discontent and distaste towards Valko escalated to a point where angry players started to send funeral flowers and cow dung, among other funeral-related items or food, to the Papergames’ building to protest. Eventually, on June 30th, the company issued a long apology and clarification on the game’s official X account, listing the changes they’ll implement.
1. We have decided to cancel both the launch and any further development of the new love interest. We also commit that no additional love interests will be introduced in future content plans.
The company further notes that the rest of the updates with regard to crates and home feature improvements unveiled during the live stream will proceed as planned. The announcement also finally provides a more concrete date for the long-awaited branches:
3. Going forward, the entire team will focus on further developing the stories and long-term companionship experiences of our five existing love interests, while ensuring a stable pace of Main Story production and updates. Rafayel’s new Solar-Slot Memories and Companion will be revealed in July. Farspace Colonel Caleb and Onychinus Leader Sylus will also return in their Main Story branches in September and November, respectively. By participating in the relevant events, players will be able to obtain the corresponding 5-Star Main Story Branch Memories for free. We will continue to devote all our care and effort to bringing you richer stories and game experiences.
Most fans took this announcement as a definite cancellation, though there were also a few hopeful readings of these remarks. They’ve found especially the first remark vague enough to leave room for a possible comeback, interpreting “no additional love interests“ or “focusing on the existing characters“ as them including Valko since he was already revealed as a character before the statement. While the banners and header images with all six love interests are changed and the TikTok or Instagram posts are deleted, the X posts are still alive and players still see ads with Valko on the social media platforms. His theme song, Tameless Territory, is also still up on music streaming platform.
Valko’s charm wasn’t the only reason behind players’ concern. Cancellation of a character who is integral to the main story, and as an extension, other love interests’ narratives, who was a crucial part of the planning, would mean a complete future main story overhaul, and the cancellation would only delay it longer and would be in conflict with what the players have been demanding all along. Not to mention all the work that went into his creation and workers hired to bring him to life, including voice actors. The situation also raised serious concerns over whether a loud and persistent majority can bend the game to their will, and whether this will repeat in the future whenever the company implements a new feature a specific group doesn’t enjoy.
The situation’s immediate effect was seen in the game’s Anime Expo on-site interactive activities. Valko was going to be among the love interests with an official cosplayer and merch available for fans to purchase. However, as the official Love and Deepspace social media accounts stated on June 30th, he was removed from the lineup.
With the hopes of the company rescinding this decision, fans who want the wolf boy back took to social media and app stores to get their sentiments across. From petitions to fanarts where love interests and other male leads protect or adopt Valko, to mass emails, unfollow sprees, low ratings in the app stores, and organizing a “no-login“ day on July 9th, the new version launch day, enthusiastic fans came together to get their voices heard by the higher-ups.
Since July 2nd, there has been a noticeable shift in the tone and attitude towards Valko on the Chinese side of the fandom, with some users even coming across comments confessing to using Unit 731 simply as an excuse to get Valko cancelled.
As of now (July 3rd), no further official statements have been made yet as to what will happen next or whether the cancellation is final. The social media accounts continue to release posts as scheduled. Fans are eagerly waiting to adopt this new pup and welcome him into the family, all the while continuing to keep his name trending on social media.
