Goodbye, Valko. The boyfriend who left us before he was ever released into the world of Love and Deepspace. Developer Infold Games announced the new love interest on June 22; just over a week had passed before the studio posted to social media that he won’t come to the game after all. In fact, Love and Deepspace will receive no new love interests ever.
“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,” Infold Games wrote from the Love and Deepspace X accountt. “We are deeply sorry for the hurt and disappointment we have caused.”
The company vowed three things: That Valko won’t be released, and no more love interests will be added, ever. Everything else scheduled to go live on July 9 with Valko will still be released. And, finally, Love and Deepspace players will get some in-game currency for 30 days, each time they log in.
Valko is not necessarily universally hated, but the backlash to his design was both swift and intense. Chinese players, especially, hated him.. The thing about Valko is that he’s a werewolf, and not in an abstract sense. He has a tail and ears, and is literally muzzled in the announcement video. He does not really fit in with the rest of the guys, who are not all technically humans, but who look entirely human. The wacky stuff—like when the guys were turned feral and were locked in cages—is not part of the main story, but the alternative timelines.
The people who hate him really hate him. In China, where the Infold Games office is located, Love and Deepspace players made visits to the office—and the wolf paw sculpture outside the building. Chinese media reported that some people brought items symbolizing funerals, took photos giving the office the finger, and dropped off animal poop. Images circulating on social media show security at the office, with the wolf paw sculpture cordoned off with police tape.
Infold Games expanded more on the complaints of the Chinese fanbase in a post on Xiaohongshu (also known as Red Note). That note is much less apologetic than the one posted to the English-language social media accounts. There, Infold Games addresses rumors about hidden meanings in some of the game’s content, including “trivializing historical trauma and crossing a line of national sensitivity,” according to a Reddit user translating the document. Players found some files and characters that seemingly referenced the Japanese army’s human experiments during World War II, as well as a convicted Japanese war criminal.
A second piece addressed controversy around promotional materials that seemingly included violence towards women. Players objected to Valko (called Ao Yin in the Chinese version of the game) breaking into the main character’s house, something that players said implied he may sexually assault her. That’s on top of the usage of a phrase in promotional materials that players suggested referenced a real life murder, according to the Reddit user. Infold Games removed the pieces of controversial material, the company said in the statement.
The last piece refers to rumors about Love and Deepspace that have circulated online, like that certain regions may get different characters, or that Infold Games is courting men to the game. Infold Games said in its statement that with every major update, players often circulate fake screenshots and rumors that cause confusion on what’s real and what’s not. It said these rumors and allegations violate its legal rights, and that Infold Games will pursue those responsible, according to a machine translation of the statement.
Dear Deepspace Hunters,
Recently, the development team has received a great deal of feedback and many suggestions regarding the game. We have also heard your concerns about the team’s capacity to consistently deliver high-quality content in the future.
We would therefore like to…
— Love and Deepspace (@Love_Deepspace) June 27, 2026
Some of the player response is a dramatic reaction to a guy they don’t like, to be sure, but players’ dissatisfaction with Love and Deepspace goes well beyond a werewolf. A lot of players like him, or were curious enough to at least see what his deal is. Now, no one is happy. (A petition to bring back Valko has reached nearly 175,000 signatures at the time of publish.) Beyond the controversies outlined by Infold Games in its Chinese statement, players have been criticizing Infold Games for quite some time about a lack of new main story content. Caleb and Sylus are two in particular that players want new content for; the move to add an entirely new love interest gave players the signal that Infold Games was ignoring the love interests that already exist. Infold Games did note in the apology that Caleb and Sylus will “return in their Main Story branches” in September and November, placating a portion of the fanbase. But the Valko lovers are now mad, too—similarly upset about the lack of content in the main story, with the anger towards Valko’s cancellation added on top. (For people who play Infinity Nikki, also by Infold Games, there’s some lingering anger, too.)
What’s lost in all this is how big of a deal it is for a company to have a character a week away from release get canned. Valko has likely been in the works for months at least. Infold Games has surely spent millions of dollars on development and marketing, nevermind the time and human energy put towards him. It’s not something you see very often. Yes, characters and updates get canceled all the time, but it’s not often for an entire character, days away from his introduction to the game, to get axed.
It’s not entirely unheard of, though. Gacha game Azure Lane canceled a character a couple years ago after fans complained that she didn’t align with the game’s other characters and art style. Honestly, they were right. And in 2021, Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse canceled an event for the game’s third anniversary after complaints that the bunny outfits—like classic Playboy bunnies—were not acceptable. The impact of removing just these outfits probably wasn’t as devastating as cutting a whole character.
The Love and Deepspace fandom is known to be passionate, and I think that’s a product of the sort of game it is. Because it’s so intimate, players feel a sort of ownership over the game and their boyfriends. It’s a space that players have invested time and money into, let alone the emotional investment. By deleting Valko before release, despite its major marketing campaign around him, Infold Games is sending a message that it can be bullied into making decisions. That’s not great!