Zayne’s New PV Propels Love and Deepspace to iOS Top 3 at TGS 2025

On the same day the new daily-card outfit “Edge of Time and World” debuted, Love and the Deep Void again soared to #3 on the iOS bestseller chart.

When the new outfit’s PV premiered on the 22nd, its related topics immediately trended on Weibo. On social media, fans exclaimed things like “All hail Li Shen,” paused frames to admire the visuals, and even dissected the PV frame by frame to predict the plot.

Overseas, by the 24th (two days post-release), the PV had already racked up 2.7 million views in Europe & America on X (formerly Twitter), plus 943,000 in Japan. The “Zayne (Li Shen)” topic reached as high as #4 globally and #2 in the U.S. Related tags entered Japan’s top trending list at #5, #6, and #10, and Indonesia at #5.

Today (September 25) also marks the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) opening. The offline booth for Love and the Deep Void was once again packed to the brim. Even overseas, offline, the game’s heat remains intensely high.

A Phenomenal Track Record

These strong responses are no longer surprising for Love and the Deep Void. Every major update or new card launch brings a surge in revenue and community engagement. According to foreign media PocketGamer.biz, by the end of last month, the game’s global revenue had exceeded US$750 million (about 5.4 billion RMB). Despite being live for nearly two years, its monthly revenue hasn’t dipped — it has increased, with its floor and ceiling rising steadily. For a content-driven, story-heavy otome game, that’s especially impressive.

A recurring complaint among fans: after characters “get together,” the spark seems to fade. But in a game, as the story advances, relationships deepen, and many familiar tropes lose their novelty. So, how does an otome game keep long-term player engagement?

Love and the Deep Void offers its solution: lean into contrast (juxtaposition) as an attractor, while never letting go of a character’s emotional core — building a companionship that feels enduring yet never stale.

The God of Contrast — Ancient Egyptian Wisdom

When the PV for Li Shen’s new daily outfit dropped, I hardly recognized him. The contrast from his previous image is that strong.

Let me first recall how Li Shen used to be portrayed: an elite physician, a top student since childhood. He wore glasses and a white coat in the main storyline’s early scenes. His “evol” (supernatural ability) is ice-type. He is the player’s childhood friend, outwardly reticent—only the player ever sees his gentle side.

In past daily card narratives, he was a lonely “Eternal Prophet” in a high tower, bearing divine punishment to protect the memories shared across infinite cycles. In an earlier daily card, he appeared as a cool, stern master, tightly cloaked; when the player made flirtatious gestures, he only smiled and replied, “You’re being silly.”

This time, the shift is dramatic:

• Visually, his outfit reveals his eight-pack abs, and he sports an eyepatch. Through high production value, his golden hair flows, golden threads embellish his costume, and his body bears seemingly glowing accessories — all giving a sacred aura.

• In battle-damaged form, one can see leg rings beneath the outfit and red marks on his body.

• Story-wise, the setting becomes exotic and mythic. He is the God of the End, the Authoritative True God, ruling destruction. These concepts borrow from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman mythologies. In his ultimate skill animation, particles swirl into geometries, lunar eclipses, and golden falcons and eagles — rich cultural symbolism.

• Behaviorally, when the player probes him, this time he asserts dominance directly through action.

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That tension is so potent — the austerity breaking at the moment of contrast is deeply compelling. Compared to his usual poise and reserve, this bold shift gives players an instant hit of freshness.

In the narrative, contrast layers also emerge. Though Li Shen is the supreme God of the End, he is moved by the player’s faith as a Guardian God protecting all beings. He sacrifices himself twice to save the player, and in turn is saved by the player’s sacrifice. In the card’s story visuals, his anguished expression and the tears of a fallen god are rendered with delicate nuance — indistinguishable from mortal emotion.

This is the first time the character reveals such fragile emotional vulnerability. The player is the one “exception” who brings a god off his pedestal. That alone is the apex of pure love.

But contrast needs an anchor. However, his visual style and setting shift, the character’s core remains: the sense of guardianship across cycles, the emotional foundation of mutual cherishing and selfless sacrifice. Because the degree of contrast is kept just right, the experience is elevated rather than jarring.

These multidimensional contrasts of beauty, woven with tragic grandeur, have resonated powerfully with domestic players and many overseas fans. Overseas social media is flooded with fan captures and praise of the PV’s aesthetics.

Some players are excited, especially by the ancient Egyptian cultural motifs. Some, foreseeing a heart-wrenching storyline, already lament and speculate. Even players who didn’t initially favor Li Shen were drawn in by the card’s narrative.

In Japan and Korea, debate around long hair, Egyptian aesthetics, and especially the eyepatch has been intense. Many players request the eyepatch to be detachably added to photo/illusion systems (to let players swap costumes in story visuals).

The day after the PV launch, the game released a master poster for the new card, further emphasizing the tragic conflicts of intertwined fate. The game enlisted internationally known illustrator Ruan Feifei (designer of China’s first Winter Olympics stamp set and Chinese-style posters for the UK series Doctor Who). The poster captures the moment of “the god’s fall,” heightening the sense of destiny and reciprocation at the story’s climax — a visual summation of the new content.

This new daily card is a successful update in both content quality and fan responses. Because it brings novelty and contrast, the story never feels repetitive. Players continually rediscover interest in characters, and by holding onto the emotional core, the character’s tension deepens — delivering a resonance that transcends time, language, and culture.

Companionship That Transcends Borders & Dimensions

Because the game never abandons the emotional core of its characters, veteran players feel an ongoing sense of companionship; because it continually introduces novelty, it keeps drawing in new players even in long-term operation. At last month’s Cologne game expo, the team revealed that Love and the Deep Void’s global user base has exceeded 70 million. The game claimed the “Best Mobile Game” award — becoming the first female-oriented game to win, and the only Chinese title to be awarded that year.

Love and the Deep Void has always emphasized companionship through in-game photography, interaction, collections, and external operations.

• In-game, freshly updated content effectively stimulates engagement and return. Alongside the new daily card, a new costume set, “Eternal Radiance Treasures,” launched, including accessories and crystal shoes co-branded with Jimmy Choo. Players needn’t grind or pay — simple daily logins during the event earn these items free. The generosity imposes no extra burden on players.

• Outside the game, this sense of companionship dissolves dimensional and national walls, extending the play experience and helping sustain and grow the player community.

For instance, at July’s BW Comic Con, the Love and the Deep Void booth used the newly introduced wedding card series as its theme. Each male lead had a life-size display in wedding attire, and background walls re-created daily card stories. On-site included chibi plush characters for interaction, and cosplayers who “proposed” to attendees one-on-one. The booth was continuously packed.

At TGS, Love and the Deep Void made its first overseas exhibition, setting up an expansive offline booth and staging a reverse cultural export in Japan — the homeland of otome games.

To echo the version 4.0 wedding card event, the booth featured standees of the five male leads in their wedding outfits and background walls reproducing their daily card story environments. Players could take photos of these most memorable in-game scenes that were brought to life.

Despite being abroad, the booth drew huge crowds. On-site fans appreciated the life-size screen interactions that faithfully recreated in-game experiences; those unable to attend expressed envy and petitioned for more events across Japan.

An exciting feature was the interactive voting wall. Players could vote on an activity they wished to do with the male lead (e.g., crafts, seaside walks, concerts, flower-viewing, travel) via touchscreen, and generate a personalized sticker.

This style of voting interaction is familiar in female-oriented games locally, but in the otome genre, it gains a unique immersion. It acts as a real-life outlet for players’ wishes, immediately sparking discussion and imagination. Perhaps the most popular choices may one day become in-game content.

Final Thoughts

The overseas trajectory of Love and the Deep Void has already surpassed expectations. PocketGamer.biz reports that by the end of last month, overseas revenue accounted for 40% of its total global revenue. Many international players truly resonate with the game’s emotional depth and Chinese aesthetics.

The game has launched numerous content pieces steeped in Chinese cultural style — e.g. a collaboration with intangible-heritage Luoyang palace lanterns (letting players design and craft palace lanterns in-game); a tie-in with Jingxi embroidered balls (with mini-games, themed card art, and documentary); and a national-style travel-themed card set last September, incorporating lanterns, jade carving, Dunhuang art, and minority cultural motifs.

These offerings have sparked widespread discussion overseas. Many players praise new card art and posters, share cultural experiences in-game, and some even gain interest in foreign festivals. Some proactively share cultural knowledge in communities, creating healthy discussion environments. This latest content update coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival; the game distributed generous welfare and plans to release a special intangible-heritage educational video on October 6. Overseas players are equally excited.

Such cultural export doesn’t rely on preaching. Instead, continually fulfilling players’ desire for novelty — and through lasting companionship — fosters genuine, subtle interest. The romance and depth within those cultural elements break beyond mere symbolism, and together with the game’s compelling stories, they speak across the world.

I still remember watching classic anime/films as a child — those ambiguous yet passionate Christmas parties, summer festivals, fireworks, Halloween — they filled me with yearning. Love and the Deep Void has achieved something similar: letting overseas players yearn for our world.

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