{"id":7262,"date":"2026-08-06T02:26:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/love-and-deepspace-caleb-summer-surge-valko-boycott-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T02:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T18:26:34","slug":"love-and-deepspace-caleb-summer-surge-valko-boycott-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/love-and-deepspace-caleb-summer-surge-valko-boycott-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Love and Deepspace&#8217;s Caleb Event Is Live \u2014 the Valko Boycott Passes 250,000 Signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Infold&#8217;s otome RPG <strong>Love and Deepspace<\/strong> broke nearly a month of social media silence this week \u2014 but the timing landed in the middle of an ongoing storm. The <strong>Caleb: Summer Surge<\/strong> limited five-star memory event launched on 5 August and runs through 14 August, even as a community boycott demanding the return of cancelled love interest Valko continues to grow. A petition on iPetitions has passed <strong>251,000 signatures<\/strong>, and the game recorded its worst financial month on record following the controversy, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/opencritic.com\/news\/35685\/love-and-deepspace-suffers-worst-financial-month-ever-following-valko-controversy\">OpenCritic&#8217;s reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Watch the Caleb Summer Surge Trailer<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"gt-video\">\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wxPCGRkEFzE\" title=\"Love and Deepspace | Summer Surge\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;\" allow=\"accelerometer;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture;web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>Love and Deepspace | Summer Surge \u2014 via Love and Deepspace on YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>What Happened With Valko?<\/h2>\n<p>Valko was announced on 22 June as Love and Deepspace&#8217;s first new love interest in some time \u2014 a wolf-inspired character who quickly built a dedicated following among the game&#8217;s international playerbase. Before his Version 6.0 debut, a vocal segment of the game&#8217;s Chinese domestic audience mounted an intense campaign opposing his design. The backlash proved decisive: Infold cancelled Valko entirely, removing him from the roadmap and issuing an apology \u2014 but not the one Western players were looking for.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lds-valko.webp?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Valko, the cancelled Love and Deepspace love interest\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption>Image courtesy of Infold Games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The cancellation did not land well globally. The game <a href=\"https:\/\/opencritic.com\/news\/35685\/love-and-deepspace-suffers-worst-financial-month-ever-following-valko-controversy\">suffered its worst financial month on record<\/a> in the period that followed. Meanwhile, a Chinese government statement indicated Valko is gone permanently, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamespot.com\/articles\/love-and-deepspace-drama-continues-as-chinese-government-indicates-new-love-interest-is-gone-for-good\/\">GameSpot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The Boycott By the Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>The fan response has been substantial and organised:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Over <strong>251,300 signatures<\/strong> on an iPetitions campaign demanding Valko&#8217;s reinstatement<\/li>\n<li>Over <strong>98,200 signatures<\/strong> on a separate Change.org petition<\/li>\n<li>A dedicated <em>Letters for Valko<\/em> website collecting fan messages for Infold to read<\/li>\n<li>A solidarity GoFundMe for Mexican wolf sanctuary Extinci\u00f3n Cero raised over 78,850 MXN<\/li>\n<li>Public figures including rapper bbno$ promoted the petitions through cosplay content<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Chinese players have largely held their position opposing the character&#8217;s return, creating a cultural divide that Infold has not yet addressed publicly. As of publication, the developer has issued no formal response to the boycott or any roadmap for what comes next \u2014 the resumed social media activity has focused solely on the Caleb event, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.siliconera.com\/infold-breaks-love-and-deepspace-valko-silence-with-caleb-trailer\/\">as Siliconera reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Inside the Caleb: Summer Surge Event<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lds-caleb-art.jpg?w=474&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Caleb from Love and Deepspace in character art\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption>Image courtesy of Infold Games<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Caleb: Summer Surge limited five-star memory runs until <strong>14 August at 04:59 (server time)<\/strong>. It centres on a basketball-themed story \u2014 a nostalgia-tinged narrative revisiting an old court. Rewards available during the banner period include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Leap &amp; Dunk<\/strong> outfit (limited \u2014 not obtainable after the banner ends)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rule Reversal<\/strong> hat (permanently enters the Lunar Shop after the event)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lingering Moment<\/strong> photo pose (also enters the Lunar Shop permanently)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Infold released the Caleb event in place of the previously announced Rafayel Myth banner, which was postponed. Some players have pledged to sit out spending until Infold addresses the Valko situation directly; others are playing the event as normal. For Singapore and Southeast Asia players who are active Love and Deepspace users, the banner deadline of 14 August is approaching quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Keep up with mobile game news in the <a href=\"\/blog\/category\/game-news\/\">Game News<\/a> section.<\/p>\n<p><!--GT-SCOUT source=\"Web (English)\" theme=\"Video games\" flags=\"none\"--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Love and Deepspace&#8217;s Caleb: Summer Surge banner runs August 5-14. Meanwhile the Valko boycott has cleared 250,000 signatures on iPetitions as Infold breaks weeks of silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":7254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[11],"tags":[1077,399,774],"class_list":["post-7262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-news","tag-love-and-deepspace","tag-mobile-games","tag-otome-game"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/lds-caleb-summer-surge.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p13AlF-1T8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7076,"url":"https:\/\/www.gametrader.sg\/blog\/pokemon-go-shiny-snom-arctic-embers-august-2026\/","url_meta":{"origin":7262,"position":0},"title":"Shiny Snom Debuts in Pok\u00e9mon GO Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers (Aug 4\u201310)","date":"August 3, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Shiny Snom makes its world debut in Pok\u00e9mon GO from 4\u201310 August during Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers. 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