Paper Games’ 3D romance game Love and Deepspace has been caught in what appears to be its biggest controversy since launch following the reveal of its sixth romanceable male character, Ao Yin.
The announcement triggered widespread criticism over the character’s visual design, story background, and the company’s communication with players, leading to a surge in complaints, falling user ratings, and intense debate across online communities.
On June 22, Love and Deepspace unveiled Ao Yin during a livestream. After several days of growing controversy, the game’s development team published an open letter in the early hours of June 28 in response to the controversy.
Players raise three major concerns
According to the official introduction, Ao Yin is a 26-year-old character who serves as both the chairman of a technology conglomerate and the leader of a werewolf clan. He is scheduled to debut alongside Version 6.0 on July 9. Player criticism has centered on three main issues.
The first concerns his visual design. Ao Yin’s red-haired werewolf appearance differs from the more realistic, East Asian-inspired aesthetic of the game’s existing five male leads. While some players argue that his design feels inconsistent with the game’s established art style, others welcome the addition of a more diverse character design.
The second issue involves the timing of his introduction and the company’s communication. The main storyline has gone more than 500 days without an update, while several existing love interests have yet to receive new Bond Chapters. Against that backdrop, many felt the sudden reveal of a new romanceable character lacked sufficient narrative buildup.
The third concern is Ao Yin’s backstory. According to the game’s lore, his EonCore Group is closely tied to EVER, one of the game’s antagonistic organizations. Some players said they found it difficult to accept pursuing a romance with a character associated with the opposing faction.
Paper Games acknowledges communication issues but keeps launch plan unchanged
In its open letter, Paper Games apologized, stating: “We sincerely apologize for the shortcomings in how Ao Yin was presented and how information was communicated.”
The developer also said that the storylines and emotional connections of the existing love interests would not be affected by Ao Yin’s introduction and distributed compensation equivalent to 20 free character pulls to all players. However, the statement did not indicate any changes to Ao Yin’s scheduled release.
The statement also failed to calm the controversy. As of publication, the game’s Weibo account had received nearly 300,000 comments, with many of the most upvoted posts rejecting the new character, calling for Ao Yin to be removed from the game, or demanding refunds.
Meanwhile, the game’s ratings continued to decline across major app stores. Its App Store rating dropped to 2.0, while its Android app store rating fell to 2.6 and its TapTap score declined to 2.8.
Love and Deepspace is scheduled to hold a Version 6.0 preview livestream on the evening of June 28, where the developer is expected to further address players’ concerns. Whether the week-long controversy can be eased following the livestream remains to be seen.
0 Commentaires