inZoi

Life simulations like The Sims from Maxis and Electronic Arts are few and far between. Until recently, The Sims had no real competition. Paradox Interactive once tried their hand at the genre with Life By You, but canceled the project after several years of development. Then there is Paralives, due out this year, and probably the biggest and most promising competitor to date: inZoi from Krafton in South Korea, a company that has only become as big as it is thanks to the success of PUBG: Battlegrounds. And here they are not messing around, they are going all out. In the Unreal Engine 5-based game, players take on the role of creators in a "divine" corporation, creating characters called Zois who live in a simulated, Earth-like parallel world that can be shaped by the player - players are guided by Psycat, a cat who acts as a boss and a guide.

Life simulations like The Sims from Maxis and Electronic Arts are few and far between. Until recently, The Sims had no real competition. Paradox Interactive once tried their hand at the genre with Life By You, but canceled the project after several years of development. Then there is Paralives, due out this year, and probably the biggest and most promising competitor to date: inZoi from Krafton in South Korea, a company that has only become as big as it is thanks to the success of PUBG: Battlegrounds. And here they are not messing around, they are going all out. In the Unreal Engine 5-based game, players take on the role of creators in a "divine" corporation, creating characters called Zois who live in a simulated, Earth-like parallel world that can be shaped by the player - players are guided by Psycat, a cat who acts as a boss and a guide.

First, players create a character, or rather an entire family, whose virtual life they want to control/shape/follow. The Zoi editor is simply amazing as it allows players to customize their avatars with countless visual features. There are a lot of options for facial features, although there could be more options for bodies, but that is only a minor drawback. After that an outfit is chosen. Presets are also available. At the same time, players can give their characters certain traits, such as curious, extroverted, harmonious, social activism, artistic, etc., which affect their needs, emotions, options for action and behaviour in the world. After that, it's time to choose one of the two currently available cities, which are simulated open worlds. These are currently Dowon, which is based on Seoul, and Bliss Blay, which is reminiscent of Los Angeles - and simulates a lot of virtual life. Another city with an Indonesian flair will follow in August 2025.

Zois can move into a furnished or completely empty house/apartment or buy a building plot. The game scores again with its editor when players want to design the house (walls, roofs, stairs, fences, platforms and gates) for their Zois. Colors and patterns, everything can be chosen. But that's nothing compared to the interior design possibilities. What inZoi offers here is incomparably versatile, a real dream for those who love to build and design - and this is complemented by the community content that can be shared on its own platform called Canvas. By the way: "Players can generate unique textures for character outfits and various items based on text input. They can also create 3D objects from image input, which can be used as interior decorations or accessories, and add distinctive motions to their Zoi using video input. Additionally, the actions and thoughts of Zois are controlled through sLM technology, enabling more engaging and intuitive interactions." inZoi has a realistic graphical style, which is especially impressive when it comes to people and household environments. However, there are still graphical bugs, choppy animations, glitches and pop-ins. But most of the time it looks very good.

After that, the game switches to live mode, in which the created Zoi live in the city. There the needs of the Zoi must be met, such as hunger, sleep, hygiene or fun - and of course there is also a professional life as well as social actions and relationships with other Zois. On the one hand, the player can control the Zoi directly (even with WASD) and thus steer their lives, especially during important events, using context menus for objects, people or actions. On the other hand, Zoi can act independently based on their personality traits and experiences. Meows - the currency of Inzoi - can be earned by Zoi's working in jobs, selling art or winning the lottery - or players can simply give them money as a 'cheat'. In addition, it is possible to make adjustments to the city and the general state of the city (from a global bad mood to the difficulty of forming relationships there), which affects the simulation of all inhabitants.

In the latter case, however, the early access state is still noticeable, as sometimes the behaviors or the order in which the Zois do something are rather strange, implausible, hasty decisions, and difficult to understand, also because they are not always based on their traits or their current mood. The relationships could also use more of a "human touch" or less superficiality, but hopefully that's something that will be addressed in Early Access. Then there is the Karma system. Good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished. This karma also extends beyond the life of a Zoi. For example, if a Zoi dies and has unfinished work to do, they will remain in the city as a ghost. And the number of ghosts in the city will limit what can be done in the city.

Especially the believability of the Zoi's behavior can and must be improved and deepened. This is also one of the reasons why the game was released in Early Access. "The life simulation genre presents a unique challenge: capturing the depth and complexity of life in a video game. We view our development as not a sprint but more like a marathon, which requires time to build different features that will make inZoi feel increasingly lifelike. Prioritizing which features to develop first is critical, and we believe open communication with players is the best way to achieve this", Publisher Krafton said. "The current version includes most of the game's foundational systems, such as our base simulation and visual elements—especially character customization (Create a Zoi). However, ongoing additions mean optimization, game depth, and interaction systems will have room for improvement. We also plan to enhance driving mechanics and the dynamic event system."

A roadmap for Early Access is already in place. Upcoming content will include freelance jobs, ghost play, a Southeast Asian-inspired cat island called "Kucingku," swimming pools and the ability to swim, a family tree, new professions, and more. Kucingku is described as a DLC that will be released for free during Early Access.

They have already proven that they listen to player feedback. Shortly before the early access release, the implementation of Denuvo anti-tamper was announced, but it was later dropped. Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim wrote on Steam: "We initially chose to implement Denuvo as a way to protect the game from illegal distribution. At the time, we believed this would help ensure fairness for players who had properly purchased the game. However, after taking a closer look at community feedback, we quickly realized that this approach did not align with what our players wanted. (...) We understand that removing Denuvo increases the risk of the game being cracked and illegally distributed after release. At the same time, we believe it opens up a valuable opportunity: it allows inZOI to become more freely configurable - unlocking new ways for players to shape new experiences for other players. We believe enabling this freedom from the very beginning will lead to innovative and long-lasting enjoyment for the community. (...) As I mentioned during the Online Showcase, we are committed to making inZOI a highly moddable game. Our first stage of official mod support will launch in May, allowing players to use tools like Maya and Blender to create custom content. But this is only the beginning. Over time, we plan to expand mod support across more areas of the game, so you can customize and enhance your experience in many different ways. With the removal of Denuvo, we hope to foster an even more open environment for modders to create and share unique experiences for other players."

inZoi launched in Early Access on 28 March for €39.99, with all updates and DLC available for free until the full release. The price will increase after Early Access. The game currently supports 13 languages: English, Korean, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Russian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), and Polish. The translation completion rate for each language can be found within the game. Krafton is committed to continually expanding and improving support for all languages.

Conclusion

EA's Sims have a strong challenger. The level of customization is impressive and the scope of the game is impressive. The groundwork for a good life simulation has been laid, but at the moment the Zoi's could use a bit more of a human touch in terms of believability and consistency of behavior. But that's exactly why Krafton sent it to Early Access.

Features

• exceptional editor for Zois, houses and interiors
• complex simulated cities
• both controllable and autonomous Zois