It’s been a week since the romance game Love And Deepspace studio Infold announced it was canceling the addition of one of its new love interests – a werewolf named Valko – but fans of the game are continuing to call for his release. One of the people fighting the good fight is Kurina, who created a real-world tribute to Valko at Anime Expo, which quickly grew with notes and gifts from Love and Deepspace players.
Organizer Kurina told IGN that it all began when she felt devastated by the announcement and then saw on X that Twitter users in China were making trips to Infold’s HQ to take the Valko promotional poster gifts of chocolate and flowers.
“Seeing that really moved me. Then I remembered that at Anime Expo 2025 someone had made a Jinu shrine, and I thought, ‘Wait… we need to do one for Valko.’ From that moment, I dropped everything I had planned. I went to the store, bought supplies, and started building the tribute. I told my friends I was 100% serious about doing this. I also made a video beforehand because I wanted people to have time to bring something if they wanted to.”
She says she knew word was spreading when people who had never even played Love and Deepspace were dropping by to ask questions.
“Every time I walked by, someone was there reading the notes, leaving chocolate or drawings, or simply standing there quietly. It slowly became a place where people gathered to talk about Love and Deepspace,” she explained.
“It became the place where people shared their stories, talked about where they were when they heard the Valko news, and connected with others who understood exactly how they felt. That was when I realized it had become something much bigger than I ever imagined.”
The tribute isn’t the only way fans are showing their support for Valko. A petition for his reinstatement has reached 229,364 signatures at the time of writing, and a star has been named after the character. Instagram user Lunarmizuki asked other players to contribute to a wolf charity in China in Valko’s name, raising $1243 so far. In Malaysia and New York fans of the game have hired slots on the LED billboards to share Valko footage, and more are being planned around the world. Others are supporting by creating fan art, posting Valko support across social media, boycotting or refusing to spend money in the game, and even playing Valko’s official track, Tameless Territory, on repeat on streaming services like Spotify to push it up the charts. In Artist’s Alley at Anime Expo, many creators quickly sold out of Valko-related merch.
“For me, Valko represented something new. He was going to be the first new love interest introduced for many of us. We were excited to learn about him, experience his story, create fan art, and welcome him into the community. We also know how much work goes into creating these characters. Infold’s GDC presentation this year showed just how much detail and care they put into every love interest,” she said.
“That’s why this hit so hard. It wasn’t just about losing a character. It felt like losing something we had all been looking forward to together.”
Kurina also explained that for her, Love and Deepspace marked a time when she decided to focus on content creation as career and reminded her of why she loved anime, gaming and creating.
“It gave me the confidence to stop hiding the things I love and start building something around them. It wasn’t just entertainment. It became the catalyst for a completely new chapter in my life.”
At the end of Anime Expo Kurina gave contributors the chance to come and take back their items before they left the convention and has taken everything else with her to create a record of the tribute.
“One thing I’ve noticed about this fandom is how much it inspires people to create. Whether it’s fan art, oshikatsu [a Japanese fandom subculture], scrapbooking, journaling, cosplay, or for me, 3D modeling and printing, everyone expresses their love for the game in their own creative way,” she said.
“I didn’t want the tribute to simply end when Anime Expo was over. Every note, drawing, and message came from someone who wanted to share what Valko and this community meant to them. Right now, some members of the community and I are hoping to preserve as many of those notes as possible, whether that’s through a scrapbook or another keepsake. I want people to know that what they left at the tribute mattered and that their messages won’t be forgotten.”
Currently there’s no word from Infold on whether or not the campaign will be successful. Fans are hopeful for news on July 9, the day Valko was originally scheduled to debut.
Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and an elder millennial. She’s been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends.
