Chinese gaming developer miHoYo has officially launched its new AI companion application, BSide: Olivia Lin, on Steam. Marking a departure from the studio’s well-known anime-style interactive entertainment franchises like Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, and Zenless Zone Zero, this release is classified as a “Free to Play Utility” rather than a traditional game. The application serves as a digital platform centered on emotional engagement, music creation, and desktop customization. It is currently available in Early Access, with miHoYo utilizing this period to collect user feedback to refine the product’s features and overall experience.
The Character and Concept
The core of the application is Olivia Lin (also referred to as Lin Li), a virtual character designed as a student from Shanghai majoring in piano with a minor in psychology. According to her official profile, Olivia is characterized by her interests in vinyl records, classic films, and rainy days, with a thematic focus on the relationship between music and memories. Olivia’s presence was established prior to the app’s release through a Bilibili account that began posting piano performance videos in August 2025. These videos utilized motion capture and synchronized lip movements to build an audience before the account expanded into letter-reading and response content in March 2026.
Core Features and Functionality
BSide: Olivia Lin is designed as a lightweight companion tool rather than a standard game. Its primary features include: * Piano Performances: Users can watch Olivia perform various piano pieces, which are intended to express her interpretation of music and memories. * Music Creation: Musicians can upload MIDI files to the app, which uses AI to generate animated performance videos based on the compositions. * AI Letter Interaction: An AI-driven chat system allows users to journal daily experiences, share thoughts, or express emotions through text, receiving personalized, in-character replies from Olivia. * Desktop Integration: Users can set Olivia as a live Windows desktop wallpaper, enabling her to perform piano pieces and interact with the user without requiring the main application to be open. The application is currently built primarily for Chinese-speaking users, with the interface, audio, and subtitles provided in Simplified Chinese.
User Feedback and Technical Challenges
Since its release, the Early Access build has encountered mixed feedback. Some users reported disappointment upon discovering that the app lacks traditional gameplay mechanics or a main storyline, leading to a disparity between their expectations and the actual product. Technical criticisms have also emerged, including reports of bugs that cause audio and video synchronization issues during MIDI-to-video generation. Additionally, some users have found the requirement to link a miHoYo Pass account to be a cumbersome onboarding process. There has also been speculation among the community regarding whether the app’s limited feature set serves as a platform for collecting conversational data to train AI models.
Developmental Context and System Requirements
The launch of BSide: Olivia Lin follows reports of significant investments by miHoYo into AI research and development. The studio has indicated that it views AI as a primary means of problem-solving, and this application is being observed as a testbed for integrating such capabilities into the company’s broader project ecosystem. While miHoYo has not yet provided a detailed public roadmap or confirmed plans for broader international language support, the studio maintains that the project is under active development.
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