In a recent interview with Game File (users may encounter a paywall), Hyungjun Kim, lead developer of upcoming life sim Inzoi, explained some of his reasons for working on a challenge to genre juggernaut, The Sims.
“I have 24 years of game development under my belt, and I’ve been working on MMORPGs for the longest time. I got sick of it,” Kim said.
Kim’s highest-profile games before Inzoi were the MMOs Elyon and Aion, with the latter in particular finding success, though the developer noted that he’s also worked on a number of other projects. “Most games were not successful,” Kim told Game File.
Kim said that he both became concerned with a lack of genre diversity in Korean game dev—an overemphasis on MMOs—and that he personally grew disinterested with the genre’s emphasis on competition and conflict. Kim seemed particularly perturbed by the darker emotions these competitive games draw out of players, necessitating the development of “really strict systems to prevent players from abusing each other.”
That Inzoi’s more creative, freeform nature seems to already be inspiring a more collaborative spirit among its players is a point of pride for Kim: “They’re not competing with each other. They try to build good homes and try to make good characters and build a good family. That’s the biggest difference.”
Meanwhile, Kim himself is a “15-year player of The Sims,” with all the gripes and critiques that necessarily accompany such a long relationship with one game series. “I’ve created custom content and I’ve created modes too,” said Kim. “I love it, but I still had some complaints about it.”
This long-term relationship with the series also has a very personal dimension for Kim: He used to play The Sims with his son, and Kim’s son helped inspire him to make his own take on the life sim genre. “He asked me if there are any Sims-like games,” Kim explained. “And it occurred to me: There’s no other games that are life sims in the world. So I started creating. I created this game.”
Kim’s very personal motivation for making his own life sim adds an interesting extra dimension to Inzoi, a game with a 120-person team and potentially interesting use of homegrown AI tools from publisher Krafton—players will be able to scan real objects into the game, as well as generate clothing/furniture patterns by prompt.
With Life By You unceremoniously canceled and The Sims’ “Project Renee” having a questionable scope and unknown release window, the stage seems set for a newcomer like Inzoi to take the crown, much like what Cities: Skylines did to SimCity nearly a decade ago.