Chinese gaming firm Papergames has recently posted multiple AI robotics-related roles on recruitment platforms, including positions such as AI robotics structural lead, hardware engineer, and product manager focused on hardware supply chains. The move signals the company’s formal entry into the AI companion robot space, as it seeks to extend the emotional value of its virtual characters into the physical world.
Integration of virtual IP and physical hardware
Papergames owns several hit female-oriented IPs, including Love and Producer, Love and Deepspace, and Shining Nikki, which have attracted millions of users and fostered strong emotional attachment to virtual characters.
With its move into AI robotics, the company is likely aiming to build a full IP, software and hardware emotional ecosystem, using customized interaction logic and emotional expression systems to replicate characters’ personalities, speech patterns and emotional responses.
Users may interact with a physical robot that embodies a male protagonist from Love and Deepspace. This interaction may bring the fantasy of turning a 2D virtual partner into a real-world presence to life.
Challenges in hardware development and cost pressure
Although Papergames has mature experience in operating virtual characters, it still faces significant technical barriers in hardware development.
The current AI companion robot field has not yet overcome the generalization bottleneck, and most products can only perform tasks in fixed scenarios, with success rates dropping sharply when the environment changes.
Papergames needs to tackle the core challenges of embodied AI models while balancing cost and user experience. Currently, high-end companion robots on the market are generally priced between 30,000 and 360,000 yuan ($4,200 to 50,400), far exceeding the affordability of ordinary consumers.
Emotional economy opens a new market
Papergames’s entry introduces a new variable to the AI companion field. Unlike traditional toy manufacturers, the company’s user stickiness is built on emotional attachment to virtual characters, which results in higher willingness to pay and brand loyalty.
According to VG Times, data analytics firm Gacha Revenue released its 2025 report on mobile gacha game revenues, showing that Love and Deepspace topped the list with $711 million in revenue.
If the emotional value of virtual characters can be successfully combined with the functionality of physical hardware, it could open a niche emotional hardware market and reshape human–machine interaction paradigms.
Currently, major tech companies such as JD.com and Huawei have begun capturing the market through self-developed AI plush toys and emotional companion products, while startups continue to innovate in interaction design.
Whether Papergames’ cross-industry attempt can overcome technical barriers and achieve a balance between emotional appeal and functionality will be a key focus for industry observers.
