Player protests over game updates are common, but getting a character cancelled by backlash before it even officially launches is rare even in gaming. Love and Deepspace recently revealed its sixth romance option, the werewolf character Valko, expected to debut in the July update.
However, after the character was revealed, it ignited massive backlash due to design style, story positioning, and players feeling the developers were neglecting existing five love interests. The official community was flooded with hundreds of thousands of negative reviews. Now, the developers officially announced cancelling Valko’s debut, promising to refocus development on the existing five love interests.
Official Surrenders, Gives Players a Full Month of Rewards
According to the official announcement, all Valko-related content is cancelled, and Love and Deepspace won’t add a sixth love interest in the future—instead focusing resources on main story updates, companion systems, and existing character content. To calm the controversy, the developers also announced 30 consecutive days of in-game rewards. Some features planned for the Valko version, like Home 2.0 and photo mode updates, will still launch as scheduled. Cancelling an entire new character due to player backlash is extremely rare in major live-service games, with many media outlets stating they’ve rarely seen anything like it.
Celebrating While Demanding the Werewolf Be Returned?
However, the story didn’t end there. After the cancellation announcement, another group of players who were looking forward to the werewolf character started complaining, demanding the character be restored. Communities flooded with “Bring Back Valko” demands. In other words, the developers tried to end the dispute but instead sparked a new controversy. There’s also reports that since the character reveal, Love and Deepspace’s player community has remained in intense debate, with extreme behaviors like sending protest items to the company. The entire incident has far exceeded typical character preference disputes.
Is Caving to Players Really the Right Answer?
Game companies listening to player feedback is normally a good thing. But Love and Deepspace directly cancelling an entire new character has many wondering if player backlash will increasingly dictate game content. Valko might be the most tragic new character in recent gaming memory. The promotional video is still on the official channel, but the character has already been “deleted” by the developers.