I don’t really know what Love and Deepspace is. Everything I’ve learned about it has been against my will. I’ve largely stopped using Twitter, that godforsaken hellsite, in favour of Bluesky, but when I log in to check if there’s any trending game discourse, the app will without fail push ads for the game at me. Like, so many ads that I had to block the account. I’ve also seen some fairly raunchy clips of romance scenes, complete with voice acted grunts and groans. Seriously, I don’t know what this game is about.
Unfortunately, for the purposes of this piece, I have to learn. It turns out that even if you haven’t heard of Love and Deepspace, you’ve probably heard of another title by the same developer: Infinity Nikki. The studios behind the Nikki series, Papergames and Infold Games, released Love and Deepspace in January 2024 – and like Nikki, it’s a free-to-play mobile game, though unlike Nikki, it’s only on mobile.
It’s also the first 3D Otome game, and once again like Infinity Nikki, is monetised through gacha and in-game purchases. Despite my ignorance, it’s also very successful, with 14 million downloads and $196 million in revenue as of October 2024.
Otome games are story-based romance video games targeted towards women, where you can romance its male characters.
Love And Deepspace Wants To Know About Your Period
Okay, here’s the weird part. In a 3.0 update livestream last week, developers shared that a new feature called Remind Me would be coming to the game. The feature allows characters to remind you of things, essentially putting a calendar app into the game. The three main tracking and reminder categories are Daily, Periods, and Special. The Daily category lets you set what you want to be reminded of and when, and if the reminder should be repeated. Special events are pretty much calendar inputs like anniversaries or regular scheduling stuff.
And Periods? Yeah, the game wants you to give the handsome anime man details of your menstrual cycle, because “your mood and your health are his top priority”. In the stream, the dude even asks, “Is it weird for me to keep track of your period? I think it’s something I should do since you go through it every month.”
The stream shows someone inputting details about the length of their menstrual cycle, so the app can predict your next period. We see various male characters telling you how to alleviate symptoms like cramps by rubbing the abdominal area – you can even see them doing it to the player character from her point of view.
Please Be More Careful With Your Personal Data
Look, I’m not here to yuck anybody’s yum. This is a game primarily marketed towards women and I can understand, in theory, why you’d want your favourite husbando to call you ‘your majesty’ while virtually massaging the cramps out of you. It’s not personally appealing, but seriously, you do you.
But we really need to learn to be more discerning with our data. During the stream, one user commented in the chat, “I’m uninstalling my Flo app now”. Coincidentally, period tracking apps like Flo have been under fire for sharing private data without users’ consent. This Science Direct study states that many “femtech” apps made for this purpose don’t have a privacy policy at all or make false promises to not sell data from users. Another Science Direct study revealed that at the very least, your data is used for targeted advertising.
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In fact, Flo specifically had to settle with the Federal Trade Commission over a complaint that alleged the app shared sensitive health data with third-party companies including Google and Facebook, despite its privacy policy saying it wouldn’t do that.
You don’t want that data in the hands of advertisers, let alone in those of your government or your health insurance provider. You shouldn’t want any of your data being used against you by apps that you use out of convenience. I had the same concerns about Pokemon Sleep – we are just way too willing to give corporations our health data with no knowledge or assurances that it won’t be used against us at a later point in time.
All this to say: please do not tell the anime men about your period, even if they’re pretty.
As the brand-new installment of the popular Mr. Love series, Love and Deepspace allows you to step into a sci-fi world where love knows no bounds. With immersive cutscenes, 3D storylines and interactions, love is truly within reach!
[New Character and Stories]
A new love interest, Sylus, is officially unlocked! More main storyline content is unfolding. The 3D real-time rendered first-person perspective story allows you to experience important moments with him and feel his breath up close. This immersive experience blurs the lines between reality and virtual world, providing an extraordinarily lifelike and immersive experience.
[3D Interactions]
Real-time 3D rendering ensures lifelike interactions. Experience intimate moments like never before, watch as your actions provoke unique responses, and savor unforgettable dates, sweet voice messages, and more.
[Renewed Companionship]
New highly customizable photobooth is now unlocked! Choose the perfect scene and pose with him to capture exclusive moments. Additionally, during your leisure time, you can play Kitty Cards with him, have a claw machine competition, take a series of Snapshots to record your mood, or study, work, and exercise together. With him by your side, sweetness is everywhere.
[Fight Together]
As a Deepspace Hunter, you will fight against the onslaught of mysterious alien creatures together with love interests. Along the way, your paths intertwine, and the secrets about your fates and humanity’s future will be revealed.
[Profound Immersion]
Choose your voice and look. Delve into an array of customizable features, from dozens of appearance details and hundreds of makeup choices to personalized timbres, all yours to explore. Additionally, the intelligent AI face-crafting system allows you to upload your personal photo to automatically generate a digital avatar of yourself. Enter Linkon City with your own image and embark on a surreal romantic journey.