Less American than The Sims, new life simulator inZOI targets Asian players

Most people have fantasised about inhabiting someone else’s life. For 25 years, video-game players have lived out those dreams in The Sims from Electronic Arts.

The problem, according to Hyungjun “Kjun” Kim, a producer-director for South Korean game maker Krafton, is that those fantasies are often limited – culturally and graphically.

He addresses those issues with his own entry in the life-simulation genre, inZOI, which releases on March 28 at US$40.

The market for a Sims successor is potentially vast. Electronic Arts has taken in more than US$2.3 billion in lifetime revenue from The Sims 4, according to the analytics company Aldora, and has attracted over 85 million players. But it is a decade old. The company has no plans for a fifth instalment, meaning players will have to be satisfied with updates that sell for US$10 to US$50.

In life-simulation video games, players create and control avatars that cook, clean, use the toilet, work, fall in love and watch TV. They meticulously customise homes for their characters – called Sims in The Sims and Zoi in inZOI. Outside, in the cities, avatars interact with automated characters, all with their own personalities and goals.