miHoYo Releases AI Companion BSide: Olivia Lin in Early Access on Steam

Chinese studio miHoYo, known for its anime-style gaming projects, has released a new app, BSide: Olivia Lin, available in early access on Steam. Unlike its previous releases, this is not a game but a utility with AI companion elements, focusing on musical and emotional interaction with users.

The app’s main character is Olivia Lin, a virtual student from Shanghai studying piano and psychology. She can perform musical pieces, generate animated videos from user-uploaded MIDI files, and engage in text-based conversations while maintaining her unique personality. The app also supports setting Olivia as live wallpaper on Windows desktops, allowing interaction without launching the main interface.

Despite reaching 100,000 downloads, the project has received mixed reviews. Users note a mismatch between expectations and reality: many anticipated a game but received a utility without a storyline or gameplay. Criticisms include bugs, audio-video synchronization issues, generic AI responses, and mandatory miHoYo Pass account binding, which complicates the registration process.

miHoYo positions the early access phase as an opportunity to gather feedback for further development. The app’s system requirements are modest: Windows 10 (64-bit), 4GB RAM, a quad-core processor, and integrated graphics like Intel HD Graphics 4000 or newer. The base installation requires about 6GB of storage, while the full music library may take up to 100GB.