Flytt over Sims – Koreas inZOI er her for å ryste Life-Sim-verdenen

If you’ve ever spent way too many hours making your digital avatar woo their neighbor, decorate a tiny house, or cry in the shower after a breakup (no judgment), you’re probably familiar with The Sims. It’s been the life-simulation game for literally 25 years. But now? There’s a new kid on the block — and it’s packing more Seoul than suburbia.

Meet inZOI, the latest life-sim from Korean game studio Krafton (yep, the same folks behind PUBG), and it's making serious waves. The game launched just recently at $40, and within 40 minutes, it shot straight to #1 on Steam’s Global Top Sellers. No big deal, right?

But here’s the thing: inZOI isn’t trying to be just another Sims clone. Its producer-director, Hyungjun “Kjun” Kim, had a pretty clear goal—create something that feels more diverse, more realistic, and way less Western-centric. As a Korean gamer himself, he always felt a bit out of place in the heavily American vibe of The Sims. So he did what any gamer dad with development experience and $164 million in shares would do—he built his own damn game.

And it shows. inZOI leans hard into multicultural elements, especially East Asian influences. The game’s cities take design cues from both Seoul and Santa Monica. There’s tteokbokki in your fridge. Your character (called a “Zoi”) gets asked to remove their shoes when entering a home. And they wear Korean streetwear that’d make any fashion-forward Sim look like they’re stuck in 2009.

Players can control every part of their Zoi's life — from the food they cook to the relationships they build, even their job at a fast food joint. Just like The Sims, but with higher-end graphics and some very modern tech under the hood. It’s all part of Kim’s mission to “make something positive that may lead to a more in-depth understanding of life.” (Deep.)

Image Credit: The inZOI studio in February. Woohae Cho | Bloomberg

The game’s journey wasn’t all smooth, though. Early reviews are a mixed bag — some players are praising its accessibility and hyper-realistic visuals, while others say it feels a bit “soulless” or “sterile.” Oh, and there was drama over the inclusion of Denuvo anti-piracy software (which, yes, they’re removing now because of the backlash).

Still, critics and analysts are taking inZOI seriously. One Korean analyst even called it a potential “Sputnik moment” in the genre, saying that Krafton managed to catch up with 25 years of Sims legacy in one go. And the numbers are backing that up: there’s an estimate the game could sell over 3 million copies in its first year.

A lot of credit also goes to how the team built the game with the community. They reached out to Sims YouTubers, sent them gaming rigs, and actually listened to feedback. Players asked for more Black hairstyles? Boom, added. One YouTuber, Jaylen Dinkins (aka Neuworld), said it was the first time he really felt seen by a dev team in this genre. That’s huge.

Now, whether inZOI ends up replacing The Sims in everyone’s hearts or just carves out its niche is still TBD. But one thing’s for sure: it’s not playing second fiddle. It’s bringing something new, something global, and something that feels like the next step for life-sim games.

So yeah, if you’re burnt out on microtransactions in Sims 4 or just looking for something that looks less cartoonish and more "Instagram influencer in Hongdae,” inZOI might just be your next obsession.