When is the InZOI release date? The ‘next-gen’ life sim is the latest in Krafton’s stable, and it’s got the life sim community all a-flutter. While the South Korean company is most known for the likes of PUBG Battlegrounds and Dark and Darker, this time around, it’s got a potential successor to The Sims series on its hands.
InZOI joins Sims 4 competitors Life by You and Paralives in their efforts to unseat EA’s genre-defining giant from its throne, though it appears to be striking in a very different direction from its peers. Instead of limitless customization or a stylized dream house, InZOI aims to turn heads with photorealistic visuals – a real first for life games. Do we have a Sims rival on our hands? That remains to be seen – for now, here’s everything we know about the InZOI release date, including the latest trailers and gameplay footage.
InZOI release date window
InZOI is due to release in late 2024, according to developer Krafton on the official , with development confirmed on track in an official press release. It was officially unveiled during G-Star 2023, Korea’s largest videogame trade show.
Krafton is yet to confirm whether InZOI will be available on Steam. However, it seems likely to make its way onto the platform, given that the vast majority of Krafton’s games appear on Valve’s digital storefront.
Equally, it’s currently unclear whether InZOI will be available on console – but given the high graphical fidelity afforded by Unreal Engine 5, it’s a safe bet to assume that it’ll only be available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S if it does come to console.
InZOI gameplay
InZOI’s gameplay will be familiar to anyone who’s had the slightest brush with life sims. Your main goal is to keep the people (or Zois) you create happy and satisfied by attending to their hunger, hygiene, and other basic needs – but as any Sims fan knows well, this is only scratching the surface of InZOI’s capabilities. The open-world game boasts a number of homes, workplaces, and other points of interest, and creating your Zoi is just the beginning.
Many of the hallmarks of everyday life, as popularized by The Sims, make an appearance in the InZOI gameplay trailer. The residents of InZOI sweep up broken glass, water their house plants, and accidentally set fire to their ovens. They can also engage in their favorite hobbies, from playing a musical instrument to painting and dancing.
Naturally, work is a part of life, and there are plenty of employment opportunities for your Zois to aspire to – whether that’s tapping away at a computer in a high-rise office block, washing dishes in the back of a takeaway restaurant, or mopping up the floors of the local convenience store. There’s even a brief glimpse of a Zoi undergoing basic training, performing push-ups in their barracks while their superior looks on.
Whether they actually enjoy any of these tasks is down to their aspirations and personality, though InZOI’s emotive mood system is a sure indicator either way. NPCs have a combination of over 300 personal values, preferences, and traits, which all affect their behaviours.
Producer Hyungjun Kim spoke to Korean streamer ‘Memolkim’ in an interview that covered many of InZOI’s upcomng gameplay features. He also revealed the ‘meta’ elements present in the life sim’s world, as well as the player’s place in it. “The concept of InZOI is that you get to become a god,” Kim explains. “That’s why the world was sitting on top of that desk, where you are working as an employee.”
Kim points out that InZOI’s original map size had to be reduced because “it was too big and made it unplayable”. However, there’s still plenty of space to explore and put down roots, with three cities available in early access – including Bliss Bay, which takes inspiration from the boardwalks and sun-soaked Americana of Santa Monica.
These expansive maps come furnished with mechanics that will feel familiar to classic Sim City fans. One such adjustable setting is the City Safety Level, which determines the level of crime and general societal chaos that occurs in your city. “This also lowers the success rate of relationships,” Kim explains, as lower social stability affects the population’s mood and inherent trust in others.
You can even adjust the cat population density if you’d rather craft a feline utopian, or introduce zebra into the mix. Yep, we’re a little bit stumped on that reveal, too – though this may hint that we can also expand our households to include InZOI pets as well.
InZOI character customization
InZOI appears to be courting Krafton’s home market in its early gameplay trailers, showcasing in-game activities that align with Korean culture and lifestyles – such as stopping by a PC cafe for a few hours to play (what else?) InZOI or trying your luck at a claw machine arcade. The gameplay we’ve seen so far is also replete with East Asian representation, though the palette of 35 skin tones hints at a broader diversity in the character creator suite.
As you might expect, InZOI’s character creator has a wealth of hairstyles, outfits, and accessories to capture your Zois’ unique personality adequately. In a bizarre moment, the gameplay trailer displays a Zoi dressed up as the Joker. However, we imagine this is possible thanks to InZOI’s extensive character and outfit customization tools rather than any official collaboration with DC Comics.
People of all different ages appear in InZOI, and we can take control of and interact with babies, toddlers, and elderly Zois alike. We expect that all of them will age over time, though whether this will be an incremental development or a succession of life stages remains to be seen.
InZOI build mode
InZOI’s build mode strongly resembles The Sims, offering an extensive catalog of items to construct and furnish your Zoi’s home. New walls, floors, and windows are just a few clicks away, and each room can be kitted out to your exact specifications.
“We have free mode as a base option,” Kim confirms. “If you hold shift as you move the object, you can move it wherever you like and stack it on another item if you want.” This news is a cause for celebration for those who rely on Sims 4 cheats such as MoveObjects to pose furnishings to their liking, though Kim clarifies that an object may be rendered interactable in InZOI depending on its placement. “There were so many things I wanted to do in [The Sims], but they always made it very difficult,” Kim says.
However, InZOI appears to go one step further than providing the usual palette of preset colors and patterns by granting prospective interior designers the ability to generate an AI image via an in-game search prompt. Once developed, these images can be applied to decorative items – such as bedspreads and photo frames – to give houses a genuinely personal touch. Memolkim asks if Krafton would ever sell AI-generated textures as DLC. “No, we won’t,” Kim replies.
It’s also possible to mix and match various elements of specific furnishings, such as a chair cushion and legs, providing more diversification without the help of mods. If you’re not much of an interior decorator, don’t worry. Kim confirms that players in a hurry to get to the life sim aspects of InZOI can choose from a selection of build presets to create a complete house with just the click of a button.
InZOI cat
Of course, it would be remiss of us not to mention Psykhet, the fluffy cat that appears in both gameplay trailers. However, it turns out that this cute little bundle of fluff is more than just InZOI’s mascot.
“This cat is your boss,” Kim reveals. “You have to get everything approved through the cat before you make any changes.” Psykhet seems to spend most of its time reclining on the desk beyond the bounds of InZOI’s world, though we do see it appear in the character creator and notifying your Zois via text (yes, really) of the latest neighborhood developments.
There’s still a lot we don’t know ahead of the InZoi release date, such as the potential for microtransactions and LGBTQIA+ representation, so be sure to check back regularly for all the latest announcements, news, and updates. In the meantime, check out some of the best games like Sims 4 if you’re looking for a new life sim experience. Alternatively, we’ve got information on the Sims 5 release date and Project Rene if you’re not prepared to give up on EA Maxis just yet.