Chinese Dating Simulator Love And Deepspace Now Has Period Tracker

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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.

'Feel his deepening breath, rising heartbeat, and the trickle of sweat. He's working out together with you!' Love and Deepspace/X 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 .