Love and Deepspace is a dating simulator game released by Infold Pte. Ltd. back on January 18, 2024. The game is currently celebrating its first-year anniversary with its 3.0 release featuring the new love interest, Caleb. 

As of current reports, this 3D dating game ranks number one amongst the mobile gacha games in terms of revenue accumulated. Its highest revenue in a month from the GACHAREVENUE report was in September 2024, profiting 55 million US dollars from Chinese sales alone. Its global and Japanese sales fall off in comparison, but with Love and Deepspace taking over as first place on this list, those other regional sales help the game keep its crown. 

Now, although the month of September was an outlier in terms of sales, its continuous average throughout the last year is no joke either, averaging at $36.27 million USD and with a median of $33 million USD. The lowest current number of sales from the game stands at $27.5 million USD. 

For a comparison, the second-grossing gacha game from GACHAREVENUE’S report is Monster Strike with an average of $25.8 million USD and a median of $23 million USD. That’s a $10 million dollar difference for both average and median in sales. 

So, why is it that Love and Deepspace has such a wide gap? Firstly, when I compare it to other “big” gacha games I know of such as games from HoYoverse with Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, it prevails in that it doesn’t have to struggle with juggling multiple platforms. Love and Deepspace is mobile only and the company has been primarily releasing mobile games. This means that any rigging that happens in the game and updates are perfectly accommodated for that one platform. Many people have phones with access to the Apple Store or Google Play Store where this game is available for free which means it reaches a huge demographic of people just based on its availability. 

Furthermore, the genre of being a dating simulator greatly benefits it. It has a set appeal, a set audience that it knows it attracts. The game is not attempting to attract multiple audiences whether that be a younger/older audience or a combat-oriented/slice-of-life player base. Instead, its main appeal of being a dating simulator means that it mainly attracts women, particularly women who are wanting to see that romance and dating aspect. 

Because it knows about this appeal, these interactions are the main aspect of every function of the game. The players can level up their affection levels with each love interest through dates that have minigames for interaction. There are constant new events (such as the current Lantern Rite happening) that are hang out events with the love interests. The combat itself is controlled by the gacha, pulling cards of specific interests to form teams that can also contain special dates and cutscenes. Players are even able to just interact with a 3D model of the love interests, unlocking different reactions and interactions based on how high their affection level is. 

But, for these interactions to be appealing, the love interests have to be appealing. Developers can make the best kind of dating simulators possible, but if the characters aren’t appealing, that effort falls flat. Love and Deepspace has capitalized on key features and characteristics that make them appealing for all kinds of demographics. The five love interests (Xavier, Rafayel, Zayne, Sylus, and Caleb) all have individual personalities that make them unique from each other. Players aren’t forced to choose between them either, given the option to freely switch between them to know more about each character. 

Each love interest has a certain way of interacting with the players that make them appealing to the audience. Each love interest is also distinctly physically different from each other as well. So, both physically and emotionally, these characters can appeal to different demographics depending on what the audience wants. The developers of this game really focus on that key ideology – what the players want. 

I think another big contributor to the success of the game is its art style as well. The game has some of the best 3D modeling I have seen. I was first attracted to the game because of how detailed the rigging was. Players can practically see the pores on the characters’ faces; that’s how detailed their models are. Rarely do they glitch out during scenes, and the models feel alive. 

The love interests each have their own story and connection to the main character that makes players want to know why they are attracted to this one character. 

The main character herself also stands above other dating simulator protagonists. She’s strong, combat-ready, and stands up for herself. She’s genuinely someone who feels proud and confident in herself. Too often, dating simulators create a meek or neutral personality as a way to better self-insert players into the story. But, this choice often creates a lackluster reaction to any budding relationship because it feels so passive. In comparison, Love and Deepspace enables the player to experience actual energy and life in the interactions. The game focuses on a woman who is choosing to fall in love rather than someone being dragged along. 

Love and Deepspace has made a space for itself amongst the gacha games in the past year. It’s taken a rather well-developed genre of dating simulators and expanded it beyond the simple role-playing game experience. Its popularity and sales comes from how well the developers know and understand their audience’s desires. 

Would you ever try playing a gacha game focused on being a dating simulator? Where do you think the game falls flat when trying to appeal to its audience? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below or in our Boss Rush Discord!

Featured Image Source: Infold Pte. Ltd.

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