Love and Deepspace Valko furor leads to game's worst month ever

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Published Aug 3, 2026, 2:17 PM EDT

The gacha game took a massive financial hit in the wake of the Valko controversy

Since it was released in 2024, romance gacha game Love and Deepspace has been a massive hit for developer and publisher Papergames. It's been hugely popular with its devoted player base, who have been more than happy to shell out real-world money on its digital heartthrobs — until last month. New data shows Love and Deepspace's revenue has hit an all-time low, and it's likely due to the biggest controversy the game has faced.

According to the latest reports from Sensor Data, Love and Deepspace pulled in just over $10 million in July. For reference, in June, the game's monthly revenue was closer to $40 million. Prior to this new low, revenue had never dropped below $30 million. The rapid and sudden drop coincides with the beginning of an ongoing Love and Deepspace controversy centered around the canceled character Valko.

In June, Papergames revealed new love interest, Valko. He was planned to debut as part of Version 6.0 on July 9, becoming the sixth love interest in the game. The community was immediately divided on the character's reveal. A subset of fans, mostly in China, felt the introduction of a sixth love interest ignored the demand for meaningful updates to the game's existing love interests. Anti-Valko sentiment grew so much that some disgruntled fans reportedly delivered cow dung to lockers at Papergames' offices. Eight days after his reveal, on June 30, Papergames announced the cancellation of Valko and any future love interests for Love and Deepspace.

This decision was immediately met with backlash from a different subset of the Love and Deepspace community, mostly international fans. It triggered a large debate about competing communities within the fanbase and the perception among international fans that Papergames prioritized Chinese players' preferences. "Bring back Valko" began trending across social media. Multiple petitions were also started in hopes of convincing the developer to walk back the cancellation of Valko, at least on the game's international servers. During Anime Expo 2026, just days after Valko's cancellation, fans constructed a memorial for the character.

The Chinese government got involved a few days later. In an official post, the government took aim at Valko and the perception that his storyline glorified sexual assault and home intrusion. This was also a claim the Chinese player base made prior to the cancellation of Valko. The post went on to say that any game that deliberately blurs the lines of illegality would be removed. While Papergames has made no further announcement on a possible future for Valko, it seems like he's gone for good. All this has prompted many disgruntled fans to abandon the game, and Papergames is now seeing the impact in Love and Deepspace's revenue.

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