As comment sections remain rife with debate over Love and Deepspace’s crossover event, Papergames founder Yao Runhao has launched a robotics company. Taken together, the two developments carry a subtle undertone: a game studio that has won over players with virtual characters now appears to be exploring ways to bring "companionship" beyond the screen.
On October 19, Love and Deepspace officially launched its "Real For You" crossover event with the sci-fi film Blade Runner 2049. The collaboration carries inherent thematic resonance: the relationship between AI companion Joi and the male protagonist in Blade Runner 2049 has long prompted audiences to question whether virtual emotions can be genuine. Love and Deepspace, for its part, is an otome game centered on emotional companionship. With such strong thematic alignment, the crossover was poised to be a highly anticipated cross-industry collaboration.
Since the crossover went live, however, a portion of players have redirected their focus back to the earlier Valko controversy.
In late June this year, Love and Deepspace unveiled its sixth romanceable male lead, Ao Yin (English name Valko). The addition of the new character and its associated promotional content drew backlash from Chinese players. The studio subsequently scrapped Valko’s release plan and stated it would not add any new romanceable characters going forward.
While the decision addressed demands from some domestic players, it sparked dissatisfaction among overseas players who had been looking forward to Valko. Months later, players continue to leave comments on crossover promotional posts, urging the studio to reconsider the character’s return.
The fallout from the dispute is far from negligible. Player spending on Love and Deepspace fell roughly 68% month over month in July this year. While the revenue shift cannot be fully attributed to the character controversy, the rift between players and the operations team has clearly not been fully resolved by version updates.
As Love and Deepspace remains under public scrutiny, another move by Papergames founder Yao Runhao has caught the wider games industry’s attention. On October 16, Nuwa Bionics (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. was formally established with a registered capital of RMB 10 million. Yao Runhao has subscribed RMB 6 million in capital, holding a 60% equity stake in the company.
The new company’s business scope covers intelligent robot R&D, consumer-grade service robot manufacturing, and artificial intelligence software development, among others. Prior to this, Papergames had posted job openings for robotics-related roles, fueling speculation that the studio was exploring AI companion hardware. For a company behind well-known IPs such as Love and Deepspace and the Nikki series, such a move inevitably invites conjecture: will players one day be able to interact with game characters in a more tangible, physical form?
It is important to note, however, that Nuwa Bionics currently has no direct equity ties to Papergames. No specific products have been announced, nor has the use of Love and Deepspace character IP been confirmed. The idea of "turning game male leads into robots" remains purely external speculation for now.
Interestingly enough, Blade Runner 2049 — the title chosen for this Love and Deepspace crossover — centers precisely on emotional bonds between humans and artificial intelligence. From virtual lovers in games to intelligent robots in reality, advancing technology may be gradually narrowing the gap between the two experiences.
Technical feasibility is one thing; player acceptance is quite another.
Whether Papergames can deliver new products in the robotics space remains to be seen, with more details yet to emerge. For Love and Deepspace players, however, far-off AI companion devices are less of a priority than seeing the studio address this long-running controversy.
*Data aggregation is sourced from Gghubs.