Inside Love and Deepspace’s Quest to Become the Biggest Name in Global Romance Games

What does it mean to fall in love in a world beyond our own? For the team behind Love and Deepspace, the answer was simple: create a universe where players can feel emotions and joy as vast and genuine as the stars. Coming up on its first anniversary, the game has captivated nearly 50 million players worldwide, thanks in large part to its engaging storytelling, futuristic world setting, and memorable characters.

The game places your created character in the future, after humanity receives a mysterious message from Deepspace that coincided with the arrival of aggressive creatures known as the Wanderers. As an Evolver with superhuman abilities, you set off on a thrilling journey. Along the way, you’ll battle these monsters and cross paths with fellow Evolvers, with whom you can form intimate relationships. For Love and Deepspace, the concepts of love and its futuristic world setting were more than just themes — they were the foundation for every design decision.

“As I delved into the creative process, I realized how naturally the ideas of love and future align,” said the game producer. “Even as humanity ventures into the unknown, the need for love and companionship remains constant. While our destination may be the stars, love serves as an indispensable source of sustenance for the journey ahead. The word ‘future’ is inherently visionary, which fits perfectly with our plan to develop a forward-thinking romance game. This guiding principle influenced how we approached every aspect of game design, helping us decide what kind of content would be truly forward-thinking and future-oriented.”

The team has always been guided by one core philosophy — the fusion of ‘future’ and ‘love.’ This vision is reflected in every decision made during development, from the choice of 3D technology and art style to narrative pacing, character development, gameplay, and interface design. While the narrative forms the emotional core, the 3D visuals are the first thing to catch the players’ eye, and they were the biggest challenge to pull off during development.

“The main technical challenge was achieving film-quality cinematics and console-level character performance on a mobile platform. To address this, we adopted an ‘all-in’ approach across every aspect of the game, from technological investments to working hours and manpower.” That meant doing an incredible amount of work to get everything just right. To replicate the texture of real skin, the team used an array of more than 50 cameras to capture high-precision data for muscle simulation and reshaping. For clothing, the team developed an automated simulation process to handle loose, flowing fabrics — an area where traditional engines often fall short.

The team also relied on advanced performance capture systems that could record an actor’s expressions and movements at up to 300 fps, and developed an in-engine performance editing system that allowed multiple teams — lighting, props, animation, and special effects — to work in parallel. Despite the limitations of mobile hardware, these technological breakthroughs made it possible for Love and Deepspace to deliver console-quality visuals, reflecting the team’s technical capabilities.

“Ensuring that all these complex technical details ran smoothly on mobile devices posed an additional challenge. To tackle this, we dedicated all available technical resources to extensive optimization, leveraging multi-core performance and hardware GPU capabilities. This allowed us to support up to 800 physical bones for smooth operation, delivering dynamic effects down to individual strands of hair. Often, our artists and engineers pushed each other to their limits in a tug-of-war between artistic vision and performance constraints, forging a true love-hate relationship as comrades in arms.”

All that work by so many different teams was done with the goal of truly immersing players in an interesting world while telling a captivating story with appealing characters. This blend of technical innovation and narrative depth ensures that every interaction feels meaningful, drawing players deeper into the world of Love and Deepspace.

“The story sets the stage for meeting love interests, building romantic connections, and providing the context in which these interactions unfold. In a game where content and experience take center stage, the narrative extends beyond the main storyline, influencing every aspect of gameplay. By employing diverse narrative techniques, we aim to portray characters with greater depth and create a more immersive romantic experience for players. To achieve this, we adopted a ‘puzzle-like’ approach to storytelling and character development, specifically tailored to our gameplay design.”

That diversity of choice also ties into one of the team’s goals from the beginning of development: to make a romance game that would resonate with players around the world. They believed that by pushing the game to the highest standards of experience and quality, the theme of love would transcend cultural boundaries and unite players worldwide.

“Ultimately, our conclusion — or perhaps a leap of faith — was that when a game achieves a high standard of quality and delivers an exceptional user experience, it can overcome cultural boundaries and offer universal appeal. With this belief, we set out to create the ultimate romantic experience, confident that it could connect with players from all over the world and fulfill their desire for a heartfelt connection. After all, we firmly believe that love knows no cultural limits.”

However, the development process wasn’t without its challenges. There had indeed been many hurdles, and the team had to face several key turning points, grappling with tough challenges from technology, design, and player feedback.

“Looking back, the two key turning points were: the release of the first trailer in October 2020 and the first large-scale external playtest in April 2023. After the debut of the first trailer, the results were disappointing, and it made me realize just how challenging it is to create a mobile game with a “realistic, yet stylish” aesthetic. Even on mobile, we needed to achieve the highest level of realism possible to deliver a truly stunning experience. As a result, we completely overhauled our approach to mobile development and focused on achieving console-quality character performance. During the first public playtest, we had addressed the issue of model fidelity, but the overall game quality and core features were still lacking in many areas. The feedback we received was honest and direct, helping us quickly pinpoint the problems—and we’re deeply grateful for that experience. Afterward, our team committed to overhauling the entire game and preparing for a second test within just six months. Investing more time and resources into Love and Deepspace was a huge gamble for the company, but we all believed in its potential to evolve and fulfill its promise. Thankfully, we’re the kind of people who are willing to bet everything on the possibility of a brighter future.”

As Love and Deepspace nears 50 million downloads and continues to set new records for daily active users, the game has firmly established itself as a new benchmark for romance games, thanks to its groundbreaking technology and captivating story. But for the team, what they’re most proud of isn’t just the numbers or popularity — it’s the joy the game has brought to its players.

“The moments that fill our players with love, hope, and happiness are what truly make my team and me proud. Reaching this point wasn’t always easy, but each challenge along the way pushed us to improve and evolve.” “I’ve seen countless players share how Love and Deepspace has boosted their confidence, helped them feel worthy of love, and sparked their curiosity, leading them to discover more beauty in the world. Creating a game that brings positive change to people’s lives has been the most rewarding part of this project, and we’re thrilled to have achieved that.”