The highly anticipated life sim inZOI has officially arrived in Early Access on Steam. While many Sims fans have been looking forward to this one, the demanding PC specs and undisclosed use of Denuvo software for its demo tempered expectations for the life sim. However, with less than a full day in Early Access, inZOI is already making waves as the Top Seller on Steam with an impressive 85K and growing player peak in its first day. Despite its fairly steep $40 Early Access price tag, it looks like inZOI might well be able to attract an impressive player base.
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In a live stream last week, inZOI developer Krafton laid out its plan for Early Access for the game. While that $40 price tag might seem a little high for a game that isn’t yet complete, all future DLC during Early Access will be added as a free update. This is a big draw for Sims fans who are getting sick of paying for every new expansion. Given that a new expansion for The Sims 4 runs cozy gamers tends to cost $40 each, that inZOI price tag starts to look a lot more reasonable. Clearly, that’s the sentiment for many gamers, with nearly 90K people rushing to try out the new life sim in its first day alone.
Not only is the day one Steam Concurrent count impressive, but inZOI has also claimed a Very Positive rating on Steam so far. With 2,000 reviews already in, the game has an 82.39% rating. That’s not quite in line with competitor The Sims 4, which maintains an 87% for the base game to this day. But even so, it’s a promising start, with more new content on the way as Krafton expands the game and implements official mod support to let creators have their way with the game as they have with The Sims for years.
Early Reactions Praise inZOI as “Better Than Expected”
It’s tough to compete with the decades of content and lore of The Sims, so many gamers went into inZOI with cautious optimism at best. Though still in Early Access, the game has impressed many players so far with open-ended gameplay and better PC optimization than expected. That, and the sense of humor delivers far more than you might think from a game with hyper-realistic graphics that could imply a little too much reality from the life sim.
One of the biggest draws of The Sims series is the fact that you can get up to all sorts of zany mischief, including finding new and inventive ways to unalive your Sims. Clearly, inZOI plans to follow in those footsteps. As one Steam review from user @HenryChewsShows puts it: “I met a girl in the park. We joked, we hugged, we were engaged within an hour of our first date and then I got a text while I was asleep informing me that she died. 10/10 No Notes.” Indeed, inZOI players are already finding out all the ways their zois can leave the virtual mortal plane.
RELATED: InZOI Developer Responds to Denuvo Concerns Ahead of Early Access Launch
Gamers have also had fun finding out all the ways you can create chaos in the open world, including crashing into zois and sending them flying. That said, not every early player is satisfied with the game. As it’s still in Early Access, some feel the game lacks the depth they want from a life sim. The world is expansive but relatively limited in options at this point, leaving many gamers longing for more gameplay options and content overall.
As Krafton shared in their Early Access roadmap, more content is on the way in just a few months. The first update is set to arrive in May 2025, bringing in-game cheat codes, adoption, more outfits, and improvements to relationships. This update will also bring in a mod kit to help allow for player creativity to expand the game even more.
With a Very Positive Steam rating and concurrent players on the rise, inZOI has burst onto the cozy gaming scene in an impressive way. Over the coming weeks, we’ll see if the game has staying power ahead of the first big round of updates in May.
Are you playing inZOI? If so, let us know the most outrageous thing that’s happened in your game so far.
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