Love And Deepspace Is Losing Millions Thanks To Valko Controversy
Love And Deepspace Suffers Worst Financial Month Ever Following Valko Controversy
Love and Deepspace has been struggling lately, and it's all because of a very attractive wolf boy. In case you missed it, a character was set to be introduced to the game called Valko, but quite a few fans of the title (predominantly on the Chinese side of the fanbase) were up in arms about existing characters not getting enough attention.
The backlash was so intense that it made publisher Infold Games completely cancel Valko's release, which then caused an even bigger backlash from the game's Western audience, who were predominantly excited about his imminent arrival. A petition was created, which has since reached 250,000 signatures, and even online celebrities started calling for Valko's return.
Unfortunately, Valko has not yet returned, and in trying to appease everyone, Infold has managed to appease nobody. We're seeing a bunch of boycotts on social media, all of which promise to stop spending money on Love and Deepspace until we get Valko back, and it does seem to be hitting the publisher right in the wallet.
First reported by GameSpot, it appears as though Love and Deepspace has suffered a pretty massive loss in income compared to the previous month. According to info from Sensor Data, Love and Deepspace made a total of $10.31 million throughout July, despite making roughly $35 to $40 million every month for the past 12 months.
In fact, it appears as though July is the worst financial month for Love and Deepspace in its history, and it's difficult to find any other reason why other than the controversy surrounding Valko. It's often said that boycotts don't really work when it comes to gaming, but this one looks to be a vastly stronger effort. We'll have to wait and see whether Love and Deepspace fans can keep the anger flowing, and considering that the game's latest tweet on social media has been horrifically ratioed months after the controversy, I'd say they can.