how chinese nationalism killed my werewolf boyfriend
Two days ago, my Bluesky feed was filled with fanart and furry memes about the new Love & Deepspace love interest, Valko. Then, some Chinese netizens left funeral flowers and cow dung at Infold's headquarters... so, naturally, they canceled the entire thing.
How the hell did this happen?
The short version is that players complained. A little over a week ago, Infold & Papergames announced the release of Valko, a 26-year-old werewolf clan leader and tech CEO. Players were big mad - especially in China, which boasts the game's largest and most profitable audience.
But the long version of this story? That's far more interesting. Especially because it happens to be embroiled in political controversy.
For those who are unfamiliar with my current hyperfixation, Love & Deepspace is a new-wave mobile otome game set in a post-apocalyptic, science-fiction setting. There are currently five love interests, with Valko previously slated to become the long-awaited sixth.
Not only is LADS extremely popular, but it's also incredibly profitable: The game has earned almost $1 billion in revenue. And while the game has plenty of fans overseas, it owes most of its profits to its high-rolling Chinese audience. So, in fear of losing their captive audience, Infold rolled back the release of Valko.
This decision was an economic one, yes. But even more so, Valko's cancellation was a political decision.
The first political actors entered the controversy when Infold released a trailer, showing Valko entering the MC's bedroom without consent. He playfully throws her down onto the bed, and she's shown to struggle. Without context, it's easy to see how this exchange might trigger those sensitive to themes of non-con and sexual assault.
But despite the game's mature themes & 18+ branding, female players in China asserted that this content was anti-feminist and dangerous to young women. (It's worth noting that there was no such backlash when Sylus kidnapped MC, for example, or when Rafayel stalked her for years.) Some players even drew comparisons between the marketing tagline and headlines regarding a recent femicide.
And then, the All-China Women's Federation released a statement, condemning the trailer and its potential impact on women. This matters, because of what the ACWF represents. Increasingly, the ACWF is promoting the conservative "family values" important to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. For example, in 2011, they published a controversial article about sheng nu, meaning "leftover women," whom they described as old, unattractive, and unmarried.
With its long-standing political ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the ACWF would make a powerful enemy for any developer hoping to profit off a Chinese audience. In many ways, the otome genre stands in stark opposition to the "family values" promoted by the ACWF, encouraging young, single women to form committed relationships with games instead of guys. As an otome game, LADS was already at a political disadvantage; they, especially, needed to appeal to nationalist interests in order to prove they deserve their place in the Chinese cultural zeitgeist.
The size of the political threat against LADS multiplied when the Beijing Times published the controversy. (The Beijing Times is owned by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP.) They wrote that otome games like LADS rely on a "trust economy," and that players could no longer trust the game's developers due to the lack of care around Valko's launch. Rather than centering the "feminist" backlash, however, the platform centered its argument on consumer complaints. They asserted that the game had betrayed its customers by neglecting existing love interests & failing to fix gameplay issues before releasing the sixth LI.
While I haven't been able to independently verify this claim, some users have reported that the controversy has made its way into other state media, including the People's Daily. In addition to repeating the ACWF's complaints against Valko's storyline, these outlets spotlighted claims that the game features a human experiment file labeled A-0731, which they argued was a direct reference to Unit 731.
For those who (like me) were not taught in history class, Unit 731 was a secret Japanese research lab that, during WWII, conducted horrific and inhumane experiments involving chemical & biological warfare. The primary victims were Chinese POWs and captive civilians, understandably leading to deep-seated national trauma that has now bled onto the Valko controversy. What’s more, the United States granted Japan immunity for its war crimes in exchange for the information gained via Unit 731. This further embeds the Love & Deepspace scandal in the longstanding political and cultural conflict between East and West - adding a layer of deeper context to claims that Valko’s features are “too Western” or that the game’s developers are pandering to Western audiences.
Interestingly, the content featuring file A-0731 was released back on April 21. Not to mention, themes regarding the consequences of human experimentation have been a 'golden thread' throughout the plot of Love & Deepspace since, well, forever. For a culture rightfully scarred by the damaging impacts of Unit 731, one would think these themes might have sparked controversy much earlier in the game’s lifespan. Instead, plotlines and references around human experimentation have only become relevant against the backdrop of politically-motivated criticism.
These plain facts have led to speculation that “interested parties” may have taken advantage of the controversy to speculate on Papergames’ political stances and put pressure on the organization to make an official statement. Given the number of Chinese political powers who have become suddenly interested in LADS, it’s worth questioning whether the “interested parties” might even include the CCP itself.
To be clear about my own intentions, I don’t bring up the CCP with the intention of fear-mongering or othering. I’m a white Westerner, but I’m also a socialist, and I’m married to a first-generation Chinese-American. But I do think it’s worth highlighting the pressure faced by Chinese game developers to cater to national interests if they want to remain profitable. Now, the team of creatives behind Valko & LADS - who presumably entered the industry in order to build characters & create stories - are being forced by the company’s commercial interests to serve in the role of cultural ambassador.
In some ways, this makes sense. Since the 90s, we’ve been living through a Korean Wave that has proven Asian cultures can dominate on the global stage. One could argue that we’re primed for a Chinese Wave, especially given recent social media trends around experiencing a “Chinese time in one’s life.” And as Love & Deepspace’s popularity has thrust it into the international spotlight, the developers undoubtedly feel some pressure to do for China what, say, BTS has done for Korea.
Some of this pressure likely comes from Chinese political actors, who undoubtedly see the potential for LADS to spread Chinese cultural values abroad. During the app’s second anniversary celebration, for example, we saw LADS wield its soft power to promote Chinese cultural heritage via a papercutting-themed collaboration. The event was held in collaboration with the CCP-sanctioned China Folk Literature and Art Association Papercutting Research Center, and marketing text represented the art romantically as a “love letter from the East.”
The China Daily Brief's editorial board said it best: "[Love & Deepspace's] decision to lean into its identity as a Chinese firm 'promoting culture abroad' is a strategic move to insulate itself from domestic 'cancel culture' by aligning its commercial interests with national pride."
By entangling itself with Chinese political interests, LADS has stepped into the role of cultural ambassador. In embracing this role, Papergames undoubtedly hopes to appeal to the nationalistic interests of Chinese ‘whales,’ who arguably form their most dedicated customer base. The moment Valko’s launch threatened to damage the game’s hard-won political advantages (and positive reputation among Chinese governmental organizations), Infold, well, folded.
Unfortunately, the cost of turning a video game into a beacon of nationalism comes at the expense of its international players. While Chinese netizens celebrate, my mutuals and I will be mourning. This outcome, more than anything, runs antithetical to LADS’ goal of bringing Eastern culture to Western audiences: now, so many fans are left blaming Chinese audiences for the loss they feel, further entrenching the cultural divide.
The game may pride itself on its cultural ambassadorship, but any positive cultural messages are now overshadowed by Western resentment. In other words… we’re right back where we started.
Sources:
All-China Women's Federation
China Women’s News
Discussing the severe PR and localization controversy behind Valko's tagline in the CN community
Extreme Chinese players send cow dung, funeral chrysanthemums, curse banners, and ritual items to Papergames/Infold office as Love and Deepspace controversy escalates
Korean Wave
Love & Deepspace nears $1 Billion in Revenue
Love and Deepspace Wiki: Valko
Love & Deepspace x Chinese Papercutting
@mooyun on Bluesky
Romance in the Crosshairs: How China’s Top ‘Otome’ Game Became a Battlefield for Fandom and Nationalism
@SylusTartarus04 on Twitter
Valko: Chasing Night
Virtual boyfriend game ‘Love and Deepspace’ faces massive player backlash over werewolf character, historical references