The lead developer on the life sim Inzoi got sick of MMOs, where everyone was mean. He wanted to create a similar game to The Sims that he could play with his son.

Hyungjun Kim, the lead developer for upcoming life simulation Inzoi (users will encounter a paywall), explained his motivations behind working on a game that would challenge genre juggernaut The Sims.

"I've worked on MMORPGs since the beginning of my career, and I have 24 years experience in game development." Kim said, "I got sick of it."

Kim's most-notable games before Inzoi are the MMOs Elyon & Aion. The latter was a particular success. However, the developer also noted that he worked on other projects. Kim told Game File that "most games were not successful".

Kim stated that he was both concerned about a lack in genre diversity among Korean game developers--an excessive emphasis on MMOs --and that he himself grew disinterested by the genre's focus on conflict and competition. Kim was particularly disturbed by the darker emotions that these competitive games evoke in players, which necessitated the development of "really stringent systems to prevent players abusing each other."

Kim is proud that Inzoi, with its more creative and freeform nature, has already inspired a collaborative spirit amongst its players: "They are not competing against each other." They build good homes, try to create good characters and build up a good family. "That's the biggest differences."

Kim is himself a "15 year Sims player," with all of the gripes, criticisms and complaints that come with such a long association with one game series. Kim said, "I've made custom content and created modes." "I love it but I still have some complaints about it."

Kim's long-term relationship to the series has a personal touch: He played The Sims with Kim's son, who inspired him to create his own version of the life simulation genre. Kim explained that his son asked him if there were any Sims-like video games. "And I realized that there are no other life simulation games in the world. So I started creating. "I created this game."

Kim's personal motivation to create his own life simulation adds a fascinating extra dimension to Inzoi. The game has a 120-person staff and could make interesting use of the homegrown AI tools developed by publisher Krafton. Players will be able scan real objects in the game as well as generate furniture/clothing patterns on prompt.

Life By You was abruptly canceled, and The Sims "Project Renee", with its questionable scope, has an unknown release date. The stage is set for Inzoi, a newcomer, to take the crown. This is similar to what Cities: Skylines achieved in SimCity a decade ago.