Love and Deepspace’s newly introduced romanceable character is facing significant backlash, even after an apology from Paper Games.

      Paper Games’ 3D romance game, Love and Deepspace, has found itself in what seems to be its most significant controversy since its release, following the introduction of its sixth romanceable male character, Ao Yin. This announcement sparked widespread backlash regarding the character’s design, story background, and the company’s communication with the community, resulting in a spike in complaints, declining user ratings, and heated discussions in online forums.

      On June 22, Love and Deepspace presented Ao Yin during a livestream. After several days of escalating controversy, the development team issued an open letter early on June 28 to address the situation.

      Players expressed three primary concerns. According to the official description, Ao Yin is a 26-year-old who holds dual roles as the chairman of a technology conglomerate and the leader of a werewolf clan. He is set to make his debut with Version 6.0 on July 9. The criticism from players has focused on three key issues.

      Firstly, they have voiced concerns about his visual design. Ao Yin features a red-haired werewolf look that contrasts with the more realistic, East Asian-inspired aesthetics of the game’s current five male leads. While some players feel his design is inconsistent with the game’s established style, others appreciate the introduction of a more diverse character.

      Secondly, there are concerns regarding the timing of his introduction and how the company communicated this. The main storyline has gone over 500 days without an update, and many existing love interests have not received new Bond Chapters. In this context, the sudden announcement of a new romanceable character seemed to lack adequate narrative development, prompting mixed reactions from players.

      The third issue pertains to Ao Yin’s backstory. According to the game’s lore, his EonCore Group has strong ties to EVER, one of the game’s antagonistic factions. Some players expressed discomfort with the idea of romancing a character linked to an opposing group.

      Paper Games acknowledged the communication issues but maintained the original launch plan for Ao Yin. In its open letter, the company apologized, stating, “We sincerely apologize for the shortcomings in how Ao Yin was presented and how information was communicated.” The developer assured players that the storylines and emotional ties of existing love interests would remain unaffected by Ao Yin’s introduction and offered compensation in the form of 20 free character pulls to all players. However, the letter did not mention any changes to Ao Yin's planned release.

      This statement did little to quell the controversy. As of the time of publication, the game's Weibo account had accumulated nearly 300,000 comments, with many of the most upvoted responses rejecting the new character, calling for Ao Yin's removal from the game, or demanding refunds.

      At the same time, the game’s ratings continued to drop across major app stores. Its rating on the App Store fell to 2.0, the Android app store rating dwindled to 2.6, and its TapTap score decreased to 2.8. Love and Deepspace is slated to hold a Version 6.0 preview livestream on the evening of June 28, where the developer is anticipated to further address players’ grievances. It remains to be seen whether the livestream will help alleviate the week-long controversy.

      Jessie Wu is a tech journalist based in Shanghai, focusing on consumer electronics, semiconductors, and the gaming sector for TechNode. You can reach her via email at jessie.wu@technode.com.