Krafton has announced the Early Access release date for its upcoming life sim inZoi, but there’s some bad news if you were hoping for the game to launch in 2024.
In a message on the game’s official Discord server, director Hyungjun Kim, also known as “Kjun”, announces that the inZoi release date is March 28th. He then apologizes that the team wasn’t able to “bring you the game sooner”, but that the delay is necessary to give inZoi “the best possible start”.
Kjun goes on to say that the response to its character creator test, as well as its trial of user-generated content platform Canvas, was “amazing”, and that seeing “such engagement” led the team to realize the responsibility it has to “provide players with the most complete experience possible”.
Technically speaking, this announcement constitutes a delay; back in October, Kjun himself confirmed to PC Gamer that inZoi was scheduled to launch sometime in 2024.
When it does arrive, inZoi will be one of a rapidly-dwindling handful of competitors to EA’s titanic The Sims, which essentially currently stands unopposed in its niche (and which isn’t going to be getting a new numbered mainline entry any time soon).
Paradox was working on a Sims competitor by the name of Life by You, but the game was canceled back in June, causing the studio’s profits to nosedive as a result.
Perhaps the only other major rival to The Sims that’s currently in development is Paralives, which is currently scheduled for an Early Access release sometime next year as well (assuming it doesn’t get delayed, of course).
As for inZoi, Krafton describes it as a “deep and detailed simulation” in which you can build houses, customize characters, and watch people live their lives according to your whims, just like in The Sims.
inZoi is due to land on PC via Steam Early Access on March 28th. You can wishlist it here if you want to keep up with its progress.
