Observed Signal · Jul 8, 2026 · Event Cancellation · Source: PocketGamer.biz · Impact: 1/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Love and Deepspace Cancels Bilibili World 2026 Appearance
Infold Games cancelled Love and Deepspace’s planned panel and appearance at Bilibili World 2026 after backlash over a now-removed love interest character, Valko. The studio apologised via its Xiaohongshu account, said it would reimburse ticket, airfare and hotel losses for affected fans, and confirmed it would conduct internal training while honouring Chinese culture and history. A fan petition asking Infold and Paper Games to restore Valko has surpassed 230,000 signatures. Infold also said it will not introduce additional love interests and will focus on expanding stories for the game's five existing romance options.
Limited relevance to AdTech/MarTech; news primarily affects game studio PR, event programming and fandom rather than advertising infrastructure or market-wide ad practices.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Infold Games cancelled Love and Deepspace's planned panel and appearance at Bilibili World 2026.
- The cancellation followed backlash in China over a planned love interest character named Valko, who was removed before release.
- Infold said it will reimburse Bilibili World ticket, airfare and hotel cancellation losses for fans affected by the decision.
- A fan petition calling on Infold and Paper Games to restore Valko surpassed 230,000 signatures and was aiming for 250,000.
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Infold Games Cancels Valko Romance Addition
Infold Games has cancelled plans to add Valko, a werewolf romanceable character, to its mobile title Love and Deepspace after significant player backlash. Valko had been scheduled to arrive on July 9 as part of the version 6.0 update. The announcement generated large-scale negative feedback — reportedly more than 200,000 complaints on Weixin — amid concerns about expanding the number of love interests, potential dilution of content per character and gacha rate impacts. The developer posted an apology and said it had introduced Valko prematurely. Infold Games now says it will not add further love interests and will focus on developing the stories of the five existing romance options.
Love and Deepspace revenue plunges 68% after Valko controversy
Infold Games' mobile title Love and Deepspace saw a dramatic fall in player spending after backlash around a planned character named Valko. AppMagic estimates the game earned $10.3M across Google Play and the App Store in July 2026, a 68% month-on-month drop from $32.4M in June. Version 6.0 launched in early July but the Valko love interest was removed at the last minute; daily spending peaked at $906k (a 177% uplift) versus a $6.7M single-day peak during the version 5.0 launch. The controversy included concerns tied to an in-game file labelled A-0731 and a large global petition; Infold Games said it will not add additional love interests and will instead expand existing romances.
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