Love and Deepspace cancels new love interest Valko, promises no additional love interests going forward

“The entire team will focus on further developing the stories and long-term companionship experiences of our five existing love interests”.

Valko from Love and Deepspace — *Image credit: Infold Games*

In a remarkable move to appease angry players threatening to quit the game or stop spending money, Love and Deepspace has canceled the launch and “any further development” of new wolf love interest Valko (Ao Yin in Chinese) and has promised that no additional love interests will be introduced in future content plans.

Valko was set to debut in version 6.0 on July 9, just nine days from now. The rest of version 6.0 will continue as normal, including the Home 2.0 and AR Photobooth systems, and selectable 5-Star Memory rate-up event.

He was only revealed last week on June 22, but Valko has already caused quite a stir with Chinese players, with an overwhelmingly negative reaction to his debut trailer on Weibo resulting in Love and Deepspace trending in Weibo’s top five stories, and Beijing News even reporting on the situation.

Valko’s debut trailer amassed over 950,000 Weibo comments in just a day, with a lot of the most liked calling Valko “ugly” and quoting the official game’s playful “Sorry!” responses to negative comments with single words like “Refund,” and “Gun”. There was also a loud selection of commenters who believed Valko was made to please Western players, as his prominent jawline and muscular build doesn’t align with the look of the rest of the game’s love interests.

Others were calling Valko “gay”, and made to appeal to gay men, which has since become a major complaint for a subsection of female players who think an otome game should only cater to straight women. This led to the game’s Weibo account declaring that “all male leads are heterosexual! Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, that will never change!!”

That didn’t stop the complaints, and they even got louder when Love and Deepspace issued its first apology, addressing players as the gender neutral “Deepspace Hunters”. Some players wanted to be addressed with female pronouns exclusively, even though Love and Deepspace usually addresses its players as “Deepspace Hunters,” or simply “Hunters” in official communications.

This second apology, and cancelation of Valko, was addressed to “Dear Miss Hunters”.

The long apology also states that the entire team will focus on further developing the stories and long-term companionship experiences of the 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.”

The apology also promised some free content, including the 5-Star Main Story branch memories mentioned above, and Deepspace Wishes for logging in every day, starting from today.

Here’s the entire apology via the official Love and Deepspace X account (you can read the Weibo apology here):

A Letter to All Players

Dear Miss Hunters,

We sincerely apologize for reaching out once again. Over the past several days, our team has been closely following your conversations and feedback across all platforms. For the issues that have surfaced since the announcement of Version 6.0—and the frustration these have caused our community—we want to clearly state: we are sorry.

As we’ve expressed before, our vision for Love and Deepspace has always been to build a world that grows alongside you—one that offers a richer, deeper sense of companionship over time.

As various issues have arisen in recent days, we have moved quickly to make the necessary adjustments. After reflecting on recent events, we recognize that we moved forward with the introduction of Valko before we were truly ready. In doing so, we let down the players who have supported us from the start, and we also fell short of delivering the experience that players anticipating Valko deserved. After extensive internal discussions, we have decided to make the following changes:

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.

2. All other in-game systems and features originally scheduled for Version 6.0—including Home 2.0 and AR Photobooth—as well as the limited-time Selectable 5-Star Memory Rate-Up Event, will proceed as planned. The outfits, photo poses and scenes, and the Nighthush Box (the second-anniversary 4-Star Memory Selection Crate) originally planned as rewards for the Hunt in Linkon event will instead be sent to all players for free via in-game mail after the version update.

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.

4. Beginning today and continuing for 30 days, players who log in each day will receive one Deepspace Wish via in-game mail. Each mail will remain claimable for three days, for a total of 30 Deepspace Wishes. We hope this can offer some compensation for the disappointment and disruption caused by these adjustments.

To our community: once again, we apologize. Because of our actions, the joy you should have found in Linkon City became a source of distress, and the feelings you hold most dear were hurt. We are deeply sorry for the hurt and disappointment we have caused.

Love and Deepspace has always been about sharing love with you and protecting the love we all hold dear. That purpose has never wavered. Every step forward taken by the love interests and Linkon City—from its beginnings to where it stands today—has been shaped by your feedback, your passion, and your trust. It is your presence, care, and companionship that give this world its meaning, and us the strength and direction to move forward.

Over the past two and a half years, we’ve shared moments of joy and gratitude, as well as challenges and difficult times. Through every late night devoted to making this world better, it has been the moments you’ve shared in Linkon City—and the love and passion behind them—that have kept us going. We hope to continue walking this road with you, building a world where love can take root, grow, and bloom.

Going forward, we will work harder, listen more carefully, and do our utmost to honor the trust you have placed in us. We will stay focused on delivering the experience you deserve—one filled with love where every moment in Linkon City can once again become a joyful and treasured memory.

Linkon City will always be here for you.

Thank you—for your trust, your honest feedback and encouragement, and for being with us every step of the way. Your companionship has helped light the path ahead, and your faith in us has given meaning to every effort we make. Thank you for your love throughout this journey. It gives us the courage to keep moving forward. We hope to repay that love with even more and even better content in the days to come.

#LADSValkoCanceled

See more: Love and Deepspace, Papergames, Infold Games, Mobile