The Sims has maintained its dominance of life sims since it launched in 2000, and perhaps that’s why Inzoi has garnered so much attention. Between its incredible graphics and the surprising depth it brings for an early access game, Inzoi could go toe-to-toe with one of the most firmly entrenched franchises in gaming history.
That’s why the relative lack of updates has left many early adopters disappointed. When Inzoi first opened into early access, it had almost 90,000 players, but that has dropped down to around 5,000. That isn’t a sign of failure, but rather that players have explored most of the content and are waiting for more to be released and for more updates that foster long-term engagement.
Like The Sims, you can get a job, get married, and even have a baby. You can even drive a car. And one area where Inzoi definitely beats out The Sims? Character creation. You can spend hours fine-tuning your Zoi to look almost just like yourself (to a degree that borders on Uncanny Valley, honestly).
Recently, director Hyungjun ‘Kjun’ Kim shared an open letter in the form of a social media post that promised better communication with the community.
The developers are dedicated to making the game what players expect
In the opening words of the letter, Kjun thanked the community for their continued support and apologized for its more troublesome aspects. “Some of you may have experienced crashes or found the available content lacking. I deeply apologize for any frustration this may have caused,” he writes.
“The inZOI team always keeps an eye on the messages you send, and we are committed to working even harder to reciprocate your kindness. Although we may be lacking right now, we are determined to prove that this is not just another “Early Access” game that just takes advantage of it. We truly wish to communicate with you, build this game together, and remain dedicated to that promise.”
Inzoi will receive a dedicated Discord channel
One of the most exciting takeaways from Kjun’s letter is the announcement of a Discord channel where the development team and players can chat in real-time. “…we plan to establish a dedicated channel on Discord, where we can actively discuss and reflect on your feedback together,” Kjun writes. “Our goal is to grow and evolve Inzoi day by day and week by week, ensuring it becomes the best possible experience for everyone.”
The Discord will allow the team to keep players updated regularly and more easily discuss changes and complaints.
The team is going to take a short break
It’s no surprise that the Krafton team is exhausted. A game launch is an extensive endeavor, and the team had to scramble to fix a few major issues immediately following launch (including the removal of DRM before early access went live.) “At the moment, our team is a bit worn out from launch preparations, so we will be taking a short break to recharge,” Kjun writes.
The team will launch the Discord and resume work after a break. While Kjun doesn’t specify how long this break will be, the roadmap promises an update in May and the next in August. It might be a somewhat slow summer for the game as the team recuperates, but the content that’s scheduled to release in the latter half of the year will make up for it.
Stability will be the main focus
Although the Inzoi team will focus on smaller, more frequent updates, they want to ensure gameplay remains stable and that crashes happen as rarely as possible. “I also recognize that frequent updates can sometimes introduce unexpected issues,” Kjun says. “There, we will prioritize stability and be thorough in our internal reviews before implementing new changes.”
The promise of well-thought-out updates is welcome at time when a routine hotfix can sometimes cause more damage than improvements. Just take a look at the recent update to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered that threw its graphics settings into chaos. With a dedication to stability, perhaps Inzoi players won’t have to worry when an update rolls in.
More updates are coming, and soon
Although he didn’t outright provide a date in his letter, the Inzoi roadmap shows its first update in May. It will add an adoption system, in-game cheat codes, a mod kit, and much more. There is also DLC called Kucingku Cat Island planned for release on August 8 (International Cat Day) and will probably let you adopt a pet.
Kjun’s letter read like a heartfelt message rather than a corporate press release and was well-received by fans. One dubbed it the “realest post-launch message from a dev” ever. As an early access game, fans shouldn’t expect perfection from Inzoi. The game has already delivered on many fronts and can only get better from here.