InZOI developer Krafton seems to have a fairly significant problem on its hands with regards to its new life sim: there isn’t enough simulation, according to players.
Director Hyungjun ‘Kjun’ Kim recently hosted a private livestream for a number of select InZOI content creators, and a streamer going by fantayzia (timestamp) shared a slide from the stream showing the results from a survey that asked players to name their favorite and least favorite parts of the game.
In terms of positives, all the way at the top, a whopping 43% of those polled said InZOI’s greatest strength is its “detailed, realistic character customization,” which notably stands in stark contrast to the more cartoony visuals that have defined The Sims franchise for decades.
Coming in at number two, 22% of respondents said their favorite thing about InZOI is its realistic graphics and art style, and then just below that, 15% said it’s the simple fact that it creates competition in the life sim space. I can definitely get on board with that; EA been all but handed a monopoly on the genre for decades, and it’s about time someone else entered the ring.
Now for the negatives. Overwhelmingly, 42% of participants said InZOI’s biggest issue is that it’s “lacking simulation content.” Now, at first blush, that sounds pretty bad. I’d imagine if you’re a game whose main goal is simulate life, and a majority of surveyed players are saying you aren’t really doing that, that would be a problem.
But! InZOI is still in Early Access, having launched on Steam just three months ago. This stage of development is literally intended to garner feedback for the devs to consider and potentially make changes based on that data.
It’s also worth considering that InZOI’s main and, really, only competition is The Sims 4, a game that launched more than 10 years ago and which was built on a foundation that’s been iterated on and embellished for over 25 years. If InZOI players are comparing it to The Sims, and they almost certainly are, it’s natural that its simulation systems are going to pale in comparison at this stage.
Although the lack of depth dominated the list of negatives, the next prominent complaint, at 11%, was the “unnatural relationships, interactions, and emotions,” which Krafton summed up as “awkwardness.” Just behind that, 9% of those polled said InZOI’s “optimization and specs” were their biggest issues.
The good news is that Krafton is paying attention to its player base. These aren’t just Steam reviews we’re sharing for the hell of it; it’s feedback Krafton asked for and is openly sharing, presumably as a way to say, ‘we know, we know, we’re working on it.’
In the meantime, here are the best simulator games to play right now.