🔥 "They just weren't hot enough."

The player research note that helped Love and Deepspace reach 80 million players.

Here's what Infold Games actually built. 👇

Love and Deepspace is an Otome game i.e. a genre built around romance with fictional characters

Two years after launch it has 80 million players and is one of the highest grossing mobile games in the world

At GDC this week, game director Lizi Cheng explained what nearly killed it

In 2020, one year before launch, player research revealed the love interests weren't landing

The verdict from players: "They just weren't hot enough"

Infold rebuilt the character fidelity from the ground up

They layered real-time combat into the romance loop (inspired by Mr and Mrs Smith)

The result... fighting side by side with someone you love creates emotional feedback that deepens attachment

80 million players later and the thesis holds

The industry obsesses over retention mechanics, progression systems and UA spend

Infold won by asking a simpler question... Do players actually feel something?

Emotional investment is the retention mechanic no dashboard can measure directly

But you see it in session length, D30 retention and LTV that makes your UA spend look like a bargain

I think the best performing ad environments work the same way