In the cavernous convention halls of Gamescom 2025, conference attendees gawk at towering installations of fabricated castle sets and pirate ships. The massive movie set-esque booths inspire awe, but off center and to the side of these constructions rests another installation–one that has managed to draw an equally impressive crowd without a flashy monument. Wrapped around this booth are chattering fans–many who appear to be women and femmes in their 20s and 30s–all queued in a line long enough to wrap around a city block. They’ll remain this way for the better part of an hour, a singular goal making this endeavor worth the wait: taking a photo with a cutout of their favorite man from Love and Deepspace.
Developed by Papergames, a China-based studio known for its work on the Nikki franchise, Love and Deepspace is a narrative-focused mobile game in which players romance and bond with a cast of five men. Since its release in January of 2024–and in the past year especially–Love and Deepspace has inspired a fervor comparable to those around the most beloved boy bands. It won Best Mobile Game Award at Gamescom 2025 and surpassed $750 million in gross player spending within two years of release.
Yet Love and Deepspace is more than any individual statistic or accolade. It is an absolute phenomenon–one that has also inspired a fandom characterized not just by its sheer size, but by the dedication of its fans. If you have been curious about the game,or rather what makes it so special, here is everything you need to know about the viral sensation, Love and Deepspace.
What is Love and Deepspace?
Love and Deepspace is a free-to-play otome game available on mobile devices. In case you are new to the genre, the term “otome” refers to narrative-heavy games in which players can romance characters in the game. The game’s main story features a sci-fi scenario where the protagonist, known in the game as a hunter, joins an organization that protects the planet from malicious aliens. As you play, the game flits between date scenarios with its swoony men, 3D-action combat challenges, and its overarching story, revealing a depth and wealth of gameplay options.
At the heart of Love and Deepspace are its five romanceable men: Xavier, Rafayel, Zayne, Sylus, and Caleb. Each has their own personality and fulfills their own archetype. Rayafel is youthful and goofy, whereas Zayne is withholding, but mature. Xavier is protective and calm, whereas Sylus has an almost threatening aura. Depending on how dominant, soft, practical, or creative you like your man, players can spend time with the romantic interest (or interests) that best fit their preferences.
Because Love and Deepspace is a live-service game, its developers are constantly giving players new ways to interact with its cast; this leads to there being loads of minigames and different features contained within it. In the main menus, you can interact with the boys almost as if they’re little Tamagotchi pets. It’s both easy and encouraged for you to use your phone to poke and prod at them, or even breathe on them by using the microphone. All this, and other features like one that plays AMSR-esque audio of a boy breathily talking to you, create a sense of intimacy and connection with the characters in this world–one that has ultimately helped establish it as the go-to otome game.
Why is Love and Deepspace so popular?
As is the case with most hit games, a combination of cultural factors and specific qualities about Love and Deepspace have helped contribute to its success. On a practical level, the game is easy to begin playing. All an interested player needs is a smart phone with enough empty storage space and they can get started for free. This low entry barrier ensures that the game can accrue players easily. However, there’s more to it than that.
In the past five or so years, gacha games like Love and Deepspace have grown in popularity stateside thanks to the success of Genshin Impact and similar titles. Growing familiarity with the model of gacha games–and other elements like industry reports that show live-service games aimed at women and femmes are an underserved market –have buoyed its overall popularity. Then, you need to think about the game itself.
With Love and Deepspace, Papergames has proven it is possible to pack AAA-level, hyper-realistic graphics into a mobile game. That, paired with its first-person perspective, help the game avoid any kind of uncanny valley sensation, and endear its boys with a sense of genuine liveliness as players interact with them. It makes sense, then, that Love and Deepspace skyrocketed past other similar titles and became the most profitable otome game in the United States within a year of its release.
So are all Love and Deepspace players just really horny for fake men?
Love and Deepspace has plenty of racy outfits and spicy moments, but it doesn’t portray sex or nudity. When situations do intensify,NSFW content is largely implied rather than explicitly shown, with the game instead highlighting the romantic elements at play rather than any exposed skin. For example, the excitement might come from Xavier taking and kissing the player’s hand gently rather than from any implied sex.
“I’m a sucker for a good romance, so having this game is like having a fun, sort of corny, very dramatic romance novel that I can appreciate and enjoy from a million different scenarios,” Lon, a Rafayel fan who started playing in the spring of 2025, said. “It’s a romance novel that writes its own fanfiction–and I can write my own fanfiction as well.”
Given the romantic elements, those unfamiliar with the audience might assume Love and Deepspace is all about people using fictional men to live out their fantasies. This might be true for some players, but the relationship with these virtual men isn’t so two-dimensional.
Rowan, a Love and Deepspace devotee who started playing in early 2025 after hearing about the game from friends, likened the boys to “court jesters” or “lab specimens.” If they get bored, they can use the game to play a card game with one of the boys or watch them “fail at a claw machine.”
“Something I think a lot of people misunderstand is that fans of [Love and Deepspace] generally don’t actually think the guys are real or our boyfriends. It really is more like we are all fans of the game, and while we have our–to use Kpop terminology, ‘biases’–at the end of the day, we are all just having fun. And yes, there is combat in this game. Really. It can get very hard sometimes,,” Rowan laughed.
Rowan emphasized that it’s not just about connecting with the boys on screen, but others who enjoy the game.
“I talk to my friends who play the game every day, and I interact with other fans on TikTok and Bluesky,” Rowan said. “We talk about the guys and their habits and voice lines; events that are going on, or levels we are trying to clear. It’s a lot like being a fan of a boy band: Part of what makes it popular is being popular, in a way.”
