Love and Deepspace canceled 6th love interest Valko’s launch completely after community backlash, as revealed in a post on their official X/Twitter.
Infold Cancels the Release of Werewolf Valko
Developers Issue an Official Statement
In a lengthy post posted on its official X/Twitter, developer Infold first apologized for the issues that have perpetuated since the 6.0 announcement and acknowledged that its actions have caused distress within the community.
"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."
Citing "intensive internal discussions", Infold additionally confirmed that development on Valko has been discontinued, along with making a commitment to no longer introduce any new love interests in future content plans while "focusing on further development and companionship of our five existing love interests". The studio also apologized to players who had actually been looking forward to the launch of the new character, giving away free golden Deepspace Wish tickets over the course of the month as compensation. Other previously announced Version 6.0 features, such as Home 2.0 and the AR Photobooth, will proceed as planned.
Heated Debate Since Announcement
When Valko was first introduced last June 22nd, the announcement came as a shock, both pleasant and unpleasant to the community and, more so, frustrating for the Chinese player base. Longtime players had also noted the main story updates for the existing five romantic interests had gone more than a year without substantial progress. With Valko’s sudden announcement, other players felt that Caleb's and Sylus’ story progress could be pushed back even further. Gacha rates-wise, forum users commented that this would also lessen the odds of pulling a desired character, with percentages divided among six characters instead of the original five.
The backlash and mixed reactions escalated significantly in the days that followed. Papergames issued an initial apology on June 28th, but it addressed only the manner in which information had been communicated, rather than the specific complaints being raised; this, in turn, made fans feel widely dismissed.
Papergame’s official Weibo account garnered millions of negative comments, along with thousands of complaints for the game on the App Store, causing a sharp drop in its ratings. This situation reportedly reached physical means as well, with sightings of protesters gathering outside of Infold and Papergames offices in China, causing staff to tighten their security.
Valko’s upcoming launch controversy deepened further when two additional issues surfaced regarding his teased storyline and theme. An experiment archive number present in the Main Story appeared to reference Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese military unit responsible for wartime human experimentation, a comparison that drew immediate and severe criticism in China. Separately, a scene in Valko's storyline teaser depicting him entering the player character's home uninvited at night, accompanied by a line of dialogue about "letting the wolf into the house," gained accusations of romanticizing threats to women's personal safety.
Global Players and Broader Community Reactions
The decision to cancel Valko has split the community sharply. Global and Japanese players were frustrated and disappointed since they were genuinely excited for the release of a new male lead. This move has caused a portion of the community to feel inferior as a result of the devs’ priority of another. Reactions flooded across various social media platforms such as X (Twitter), Reddit, and TikTok, with many players expressing shock that a fully developed, heavily promoted character could be pulled just days before his scheduled debut.
Fans in support of Valko have taken swift action, with the "#BringBackValko" gaining traction online as fans push back against the cancellation. Beyond social media sites, supporters have also launched multiple online petitions calling on Infold to reverse the decision and reinstate the character, though no official response to these efforts has been made at the time of writing.
Since then, many players online have announced uninstalling LADS, as this course of action in removing Valko sets a concerning precedent for the game and its genre. Infold demonstrated that it will reverse creative decisions under organized pressure, regardless of whether that pressure reflects the wider player base. Other users pointed out the irony that the decision satisfied neither side, with the players who opposed Valko still expressing dissatisfaction with the company's management, while those who were excited for him are left with no content.
Other Instances of Character Backlash
Character backlash is nothing new to Infold and Papergames. In one of their earlier titles, Mr. Love: Queen's Choice, the addition of an extra love interest named Shaw was met with significant pushback from the existing player base, as players saw his introduction as a means to dilute resources and attention away from the four original characters. Instead of cancelling him outright, they opted to change Shaw's status, repositioning him as a "special" love interest who only appears on select banners rather than as a permanent addition to the core roster. The situation drew obvious comparisons to how Valko's introduction was received, highlighting a pattern in how the studio handles community pressure around new characters.
Apart from Infold and Papergames titles, the broader live service space has seen comparable situations happen. In Azur Lane, ship girl Anson remained unreleased as she received negative criticism for her design clashing with the Royal Navy line of characters. This generated discussion on how new units should match the style of their respective factions. While Anson is indefinitely postponed, this situation also reflects the nature of backlash and tensions formed when new characters don’t seem to quite fit in with an established group.
At this time, Infold has removed Valko from the Love and Deepspace website, along with official social media platforms such as X (Twitter) and YouTube. Love and Deepspace is a sci-fi otome game developed and published by Infold Games (Global) and Papergames (China), available on Android and iOS. For more information and details on the game, check out our page below:
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Letter to All Players
Papergames Love and Deep Space is embroiled in a multi-faceted public opinion crisis.
IT'S THEM CN PLAYERS >.< I CAN'T BELIEVE A BIG COMPANY IS FOLDING TO THESE BULLIES
BRING. BACK. VALKO.