24/7 companionship. Spend time with him whenever you want.
Author
- Stephanie Harkin
Lecturer, Games, School of Design, RMIT University
This is the promise made by Love and Deepspace, a mobile romance game by the Chinese company Papergames.
Some think video games are all guns and cars, but romance games or "dating simulators" are immensely popular, especially among young women.
Love and Deepspace reached 50 million users across more than 170 countries and regions in January. Despite their popularity, dating sims, as they are known for short, usually fly under the radar in discussions about games.
Meanwhile, a recent major update for Love and Deepspace has furrowed some brows by introducing an unusual new feature: a period tracker.
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Dating sims offer a fantasy of romantic, intimate companionship. Otome games (from the word "maiden" in Japanese) are a sub-genre of dating sims that are catered to women. They offer a suite of boyfriends to choose from - each attentive, caring and, of course, incredibly handsome.
Ideal in every way except being fictional.
Love and Deepspace is a science-fiction otome game that stands out with its unusual blend of combat, magic, dating and gacha (meaning random rewards) microtransactions - which are controversial for their parallels to gambling.
Its latest update introduced a Remind Me feature, where players can ask their virtual boyfriends to remind them of daily tasks and special events, as well as their upcoming period. Players input information about their menstrual cycle and the game then generates its own predictive calendar and notifications.
The player's in-game boyfriend will offer to pick up some sanitary products or even reach towards the screen and provide an imaginary abdomen massage.
The millions of users drawn to a fantasy about considerate men says a lot about the frustrations women have with modern dating and dating apps .
Women are conscious of the conservative gender roles within otome games, but at the same time find pleasure in their focus on the female gaze and ability to explore their sexual desire privately.
In China, where otome games are especially popular, censorship of explicit content for women has intensified. These games are able to convey sexually suggestive themes that are subtle enough to elude censorship.
Otome games are not new
Otome games have been around for three decades.
Angelique , a game made by an all-women team in 1994, is considered to be the first. It helped set the stage for other boyfriend fantasy media for women as seen in the rising popularity of " boyfriend ASMR " on audio and video platforms today. These are designed to directly address the listener in both sensual and everyday scenarios.
Video games have changed a lot since then, especially as mobile devices have evolved to be more intimate, accompanying us everywhere.
Love and Deepspace is introducing more features including "Quality Time", which rewards players for working or studying with the game open. The rewards come in the form of an animated man sighing and whispering into the player's headphones.
Periods and privacy
Love and Deepspace's period reminders mirror existing period tracker apps, though they do not incorporate the usual fertility date predictions or ability to log symptoms and sexual activity. That's probably a good thing.
Period tracker apps have faced scrutiny for mishandling users' data. Popular period tracker app Flo has faced a lawsuit in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Canada for sharing personal data to third-party tech firms, including Facebook and Google, which use the data for targeted advertising.
Meanwhile, the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States has threatened many people's bodily autonomy and made them concerned about the legal risks of sharing personal biological information .
Love and Deepspace's privacy policy states any menstruation data is only used for the prediction and reminder features, and that it will not be shared with any third parties without the player's consent.
The banning of the Chinese-owned platform TikTok in the US was driven by fears of foreign influence and data privacy. Yet our privacy may not be safer with a US company than a Chinese one .
US-owned companies have been just as liable to sell sensitive information to third parties, such as location data to abortion clinics and gay clubs .
Australia's Privacy Act does not just apply to Australian companies. Papergames could be sanctioned if it breaches its privacy policy.
That said, it is unlikely many users will be familiar with the policy or read future changes made to it. It is best to always practise caution when entering any kind of personal information in platforms, apps or video games.
A potential shift
Period tracking is not a core component in the game. But this new feature signals a potential shift towards more mobile games integrating popular app functions, such as health data.
Instead of a casual time-filler, mobile games like Love and Deepspace are competing for players' attention over other apps - which is concerning given its controversial gacha random rewards.
It's also possible the game's designers are picking up on a widespread desire for men to care more about their partner's periods.
Stephanie Harkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
