After 24 years of developing MMOs, inZOI's director "got sick of it" and wanted to try his hand at making a worthy Sims 4 rival

inZOI Character Studio trailer showing a young woman with ginger-y long hair and a white baseball cap smiling, her hand against her chin — (Image credit: Krafton)

New Sims-like gem inZOI, with all of its stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals, is surprisingly a product of PUBG developer Krafton - and according to the director, it was born from a desire to move away from MMOs and onto a project that could rival The Sims 4.

With all of its flashy visuals and recent character creator demo, it's no wonder that inZOI has blown sim fans away already - after all, there hasn't been a decent competitor to EA's iconic Sims series in a hot minute. The Life by You cancellation and the ongoing lengthy wait for Paralives speaks to this. Every time a promising Sims-like project pops up, it either fails or remains in development for what feels like forever.

With inZOI, though, this doesn't seem to be the case - and considering director Hyungjun Kim's motivation behind its production, that's not all that surprising. As revealed by the dev in an interview with Game File, Kim was ready to move on from MMOs to challenging EA with a sim of his own. "I have 24 years of game development under my belt and I've been working on MMORPGs for the longest time."

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According to the mastermind behind online Korean hits like Aion and Elyon, he simply "got sick of it" - over two decades of MMOs will do that to you, I imagine. One fateful day during which his son asked him a simple question changed everything, however, injecting his mind with two thoughts: Why has there never been a successful Sims competitor to rival EA's beloved series of more than 20 years, and could he try his hand at making one?

That's where inZOI comes in - the potential Sims challenger with groundbreaking visuals, immersive gameplay, and features never seen in games of the genre before like a "3D print" mechanic that allows players to turn real-life photos into in-game items. As a longtime Sims stan myself, I can't wait to see how inZOI's release goes later this year. I've clocked a good few hours into the character creator and am champing at the bit for more.

While you wait for inZOI, here are 10 games like The Sims 4 to check out right now.

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.