Inzoi, The Sims competitor from PUBG developer Krafton, is drawing in a lot of new fans through its character creator demo, which shows off its ultra realistic graphics.
Krafton has deployed the same strategy as the likes of Dragon's Dogma 2 and others by releasing the character creator portion of its game early. The Inzoi: Character Studio currently available on Steam will only be there for a few days, however, until August 25 at 9pm Pacific.
The full version of Inzoi is expected in late 2024 and is described as "a life simulation game where players become gods within the game, allowing them to change everything as they wish and experience endless new stories in various forms of life."
This already had fans of The Sims turning their heads, but the character creator demo seems to have pulled their attention altogether. The Sims 4 is almost a decade old itself, but beyond that has been criticized for only including basic features and charging users for myriad expansion packs.
"I'm not looking back," said slickkpanther on Reddit. "All I've ever wanted in a life-sim was to walk around in a nice city, look pretty, maybe grab a coffee, read a book and plant some flowers.
"It sounds like a lot, but it's really not. I'm not asking for every building to be enterable. I'm not asking for hundreds of unique NPCs on screen. I'm not even asking for a realistic weather system. What I want only sounds like a lot, because the bar has been set so low by The Sims 4."
Myriad others agreed. "All life sim fans should feel the way you do," said one user in the comments. "Because, at a minimum, if Inzoi were to be successful, this would likely put pressure on EA to do better. Lack of competition has allowed EA to underdeliver with The Sims 4 and monetize the hell out of everything. It's easy for them to exploit fans, when the fans have no better options to turn to."
These comments come despite Inzoi being in its infancy, and Krafton certainly appears to have big plans for the game.
"Our goal with Inzoi is to create a world where creativity knows no bounds, and where every choice leads to new and unexpected experiences," said director and producer Hyungjun Kim. "We want players to enjoy not only the joy of crafting their ideal lives but also the thrill of navigating a dynamic, evolving world."
It's saying a lot of right things for life simulator fans too, including that mod support will be available on day one and Inzoi will be supported after launch too.
Many still have reservations, of course, seemingly because the genre hasn't had much care and attention in recent years, but even those with doubts appear quietly optimistic.
"I'm excited for this game but I have my worries," said Old-Cobbler402. "First of all, I think that the game looks beautiful but some visual aspects regarding the Zois are worrying me. Some may be due to the game not being finished yet."
They pointed out a difference in visuals between the character creator and the live mode, which essentially emulates what actual gameplay will look like. Some other visual bugs exist too, but fans are hoping these get ironed out ahead of Inzoi's launch.
Only time will tell how this will look though. Krafton only announced Inzoi in November 2023 and the release of the character creator indicates development is progressing smoothly, but late 2024 is getting closer and closer so a release date announcement should be due soon.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
