Why was Life by You canceled? Unveiled during the Paradox Interactive 2023 showcase, Life by You included all the hallmarks of the best life games, including a variety of locations to explore, character interactions, and a wealth of build and design tools at our disposal. Unfortunately, after multiple delays, the game has officially been canceled ahead of its early access release date.
Announced in an official statement which is available on the Paradox Forum. “Sadly, we’ve decided to cancel the release of our long-awaited life sim Life by You,” the statement from Deputy CEO of Paradox Interactive Mattias Lilja reads. He goes on to say, “Though a time extension was an option, once we took that pause to get a wider view of the game, it became clear to us that the road leading to a release that we felt confident about was far too long and uncertain.”
Life by You development timeline
The cancellation news comes after the game was delayed indefinitely ahead of its early access period on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. This announcement was made by Paradox Interview deputy CEO Mattias Lilja on May 20, 2024, who said that “additional development time is needed.”
Paradox Interactive released the statement across social media, email, and on the official forum to confirm that the early access release date had been retracted. The statement read: “While we would have preferred to commit to a new release window, we believe it is more prudent to hold off while we plan ahead, rather than committing to a new date that we cannot be certain to meet.”
This Life by You delay was not the first. Life by You was originally slated for release on September 12, 2023, but subsequent delays caused it to miss that window. The first Life by You delay pushed the release into March 2024 to “improve the game’s visuals and UI.”
The second Life by You delay was announced by Paradox Tectonic general manager Rod Humble on February 2, 2024, who stated the team needed time to address community feedback concerning bugs, performance stability, and character art ahead of the early access launch.
Paradox had confirmed that Life by You would remain in early access for a minimum of 12 months after it launched, though this length of time was also subject to change depending on player feedback.
Though Life by You is canceled, we can still looking forward to the Sims 5 release date window and other upcoming games on PC.