Exclusive Interview: How Love and Deepspace Harnessed the Science Behind Love at First Sight
· IGN
In many ways the ultimate otome game, Love and Deepspace has an army of fans all around the world. Some 80 million players have found love in the dreamy eyes of Xavier, Zayne, Rafayel, Sylus and Caleb. Many of my own female friends in Japan, the UK, the United States and Europe are head over heels in love with this game, from the way it explores themes of romance, to its gritty sci-fi combat that enhances the feeling of overcoming hardship together with the one you love.
While daily check-ins in many mobile games may feel like a chore, in Love and Deepspace they are a chance to feel cherished every day by a perfect lover. And behind the soft whispers that tug at the heartstrings, there is a deeply scientific psychological understanding that pulls players in and keeps them hooked.
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At the GDC Festival of Gaming held in San Francisco in March, members of this woman-led development team from Infold Games offered a peek behind the boudoir curtain via multiple talks, a rare chance to see the naked truth of their approach to game design. Afterwards, IGN Japan spoke exclusively with Love and Deepspace producer Lizi Cheng to find out more about the ideal boyfriend, period trackers, and love at first sight.
IGN: Love and Deepspace has a huge global fanbase. How do you go about creating male characters that can appeal to so many different types of women in so many different cultural situations in different countries of the world?
Lizi Cheng: I was surprised the game became so popular in other countries and other regions, but I think the reason is that good content and good characters really are key. If girls from different cultural backgrounds all think the same guys are hot, I think there's some commonality in terms of universal beauty standards. Then again, each of the love interests has his own personalities and characteristics.
IGN: Japan produces a lot of otome games, but very few have found success overseas. Some have
even replaced their Japanese characters with ones designed to appeal to Western players. Did you ever feel concerned about releasing the game with the characters exactly as they are to a global audience?
Lizi Cheng: Our development team is a purely Chinese team, and we really have not conducted in-depth
research about other cultures. So we think it would be very dangerous for us to adapt the characters in that way. We want to focus on what we are good at.
IGN: Love and Deepspace is a live service game, which means you have to keep coming up with new content. There's already a lot of detail in the game, but you have to constantly find new ideas and new fun ways to interact with the characters in the game. Can you tell me a little bit about that process?
Lizi Cheng: Sure. We want to make sure we provide a fresh experience for our players, and we also want
to make sure we consider what the player wants. And so for that, we definitely try to gather data and we conduct surveys with our players to get their feedback and comments. And based on all of the data, we will create a priority list. And then we can know exactly what they want and what they need.
IGN: Voice acting is super important for a romance game to make the characters relatable and loveable. What kind of direction or feedback do you give to your voice actors in the studio?
Lizi Cheng: Lots of it! Actually, each time when we do recording, we will have our writers follow for the
entire session. In terms of the details of our script, we wanted to really have a detailed look at the tone of voice and also the line reading in terms of its specific context, and make fine changes for the best quality. Sometimes we’ll re-record a line more than 50 times so that we can reach the best outcome.
IGN: You've also been adding various new features since the game launched, with one of the most recent being the Home system. Do you plan to keep expanding the Home system and to add new features to it? For example, things like a kitchen, pets, or new ways of interacting together at home?
Lizi Cheng: As you mentioned, the Home system is really based on daily life. So we want to consider all the things you just mentioned. But we’re still in discussion.
IGN: Last year, you added a menstrual cycle tracker feature, enabling the boyfriends in the game to show an extra level of care for the player when they’re at their lowest. We’ve never seen that in a game before, so I think it surprised a lot of people. How did you come up with this system, and why do you think it's an important feature to have in the game?
Lizi Cheng: The inspiration is again based on daily life – and for women, the menstrual cycle is part of daily life. Our team members thought this was a feature that we needed to include, and we also had positive feedback based on survey data from the game. Also, in Chinese culture, we think a boyfriend should care for the girlfriend's physical condition during her period, when she’s weak. And so because of that, we definitely think that by adding this feature, it will really create a kind of emotional bond between the two of them. We wanted this feature to allow the player to feel warm and cared for. As we mentioned in our GDC talk, anything that we feel a boyfriend should do is revealed in this game.
IGN: I watched a GDC talk by Xianzi Feng, the game’s art director, and she showed a slide that explains the scientific breakdown behind the concept of “love at first sight” – biological triggers such as looks and scent, cognitive resonance that tells you “he gets me,” and narrative projection that lets your mind fill in the blanks, all of which converge to create a vibe that makes you fall for someone. She then explained how your team broke this down and implemented it into the game. Could you explain this concept?
Lizi Cheng: In Chinese, we say things reach an ideal state when all the factors align. So definitely, in terms of timing, when and how you meet your significant other and how we can make it memorable is very important. We want to make sure that all of the factors can come into play. And for each of the love interests, we want to focus on their “first sight” – the circumstances under which they meet. We put a lot of thought into this, so that we could create a deep impression for all players.
This is one of the core experiences we want to deliver to our players. So it involves all the different factors of game development, including the visuals, the situation, the storyline, the performance, the atmosphere, the timing and the voice. We bring all of these elements to the player. And because of that, when the player sees him for the first time, they can form a reallyhave a deep memory of who he is and what kind of charm he has. So I think this is very important.
IGN: With all the distractions of modern life and social media, I think a lot of people are really quite lonely. You mentioned in your talk that when someone plays Love and Deepspace, they feel they are not alone. The game even has AR features that allow you to hang out with your man during your daily routine. Do you feel the game fulfils a need that people might have to find love and connection?
Lizi Cheng: It's not really our aim to service those who feel lonely. Different players have different pursuits and preferences. But the game itself really can provide you with this love and bond. So those
who feel lonely in daily life will definitely find this kind of emotional bond, and feel not lonely by playing the game. But we are not only dedicated to them.
IGN: Considering how popular the stories are with fans, would you ever consider doing spinoffs
into novels, movies, TV, animation or comics?
Lizi Cheng: We don't have a plan for that right now. We think this game is really based on the experience
between the player and the love interest, so we think it's not suited to adaptations. I think those kinds of non-interactive narratives would harm the experience and also harm the immersion.
IGN: As an ongoing game, do you have a fixed ending in mind? Or will it go forever and ever and
ever?
Lizi Cheng: There's no ending. It's ongoing, definitely. And we want to make sure we can build a lasting bond with our players. For the games that we previously operated, they had more than 10 years of experience. Love and Deepspace is only headed into its second year, so want to keep it going for much longer.
IGN: Have you ever considered VR, AR or XR versions to allow people to meet the boys up close?
Lizi Cheng: In the game, we already use AR technology to allow players to pose with the characters. And
also we have a VR demo that has already been used at offline events, where our players had the chance to meet the male characters. It's a small simulation VR experience where a whole scene takes place in a cafe or in a restaurant. It's a date setting, and you will meet the love interest by wearing the VR glasses and you can have more interaction; you can talk to him, you can touch him, and also, in VR, you can hold a camera so that the love interest can pose while you take photos of him. This was only available for an event, not for home VR. We're still in the experimental stage.
IGN: I’ll just ask one more question. You mentioned during your GDC talk that the boyfriends in the game will “strive to do better at the things a real boyfriend might struggle with." If a man like me plays the game and sees the ideal men you and your team have created, can I learn what will make me a more attentive or a better boyfriend or husband?
Lizi Cheng: It depends on you. Maybe you can have a try.
IGN: I thought that at the start of the game, Zayne is sometimes a little bit rude to the player character – but she likes him anyway. (Jokingly) Does that mean the lesson is that my wife would prefer me to be ruder to her?
Lizi Cheng: (Laughs.) No! Then you’ve misunderstood. Different players have different sensations or experiences when they interact in the game. You have a very interesting perspective; you think that Zayne is rude to the character, but some players reflect that Zayne is very gentle.
IGN: OK, I'll pay much more attention next time. Thank you!
Love and Deepspace’s latest update Ghosts’ Final March is out now.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].