The Sims has a life simulation game rival as inZOI targets Asian players, K-pop audience
After 25 years of dominance The Sims has competition, informed by its cultural barriers for Asian players, in the shape of a Korean game
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.