Latest news with #InZOI
Korea Herald
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
inZOI becomes fastest Korean game to sell 1 million copies
New Krafton life simulation game scores global success in early access South Korean video game company Krafton's new title inZOI has set a record as the fastest Korean game to sell 1 million units. According to Krafton, inZOI sold 1 million copies within seven days of its early access debut on the global gaming platform Steam in late March. InZOI's record surpassed the previous mark held by Nexon's Dave the Diver, which reached the milestone of 1 million in 10 days in 2022. Other popular Korean games took significantly longer to hit the 1 million mark, with Neowiz's Lies of P taking one month, while Stellar Blade reached the milestone in two months. Additionally, inZOI topped Steam's global top-selling games chart, based on paid game sales, just 40 minutes after its release, with strong sales concentrated in North America and Asia. InZOI is a life simulation game that allows players to create personalized characters and experience life as an alternate version of themselves, similar to EA's The Sims. In the game, players can pursue careers, explore hobbies, get married and even raise a family. The game includes over 250 customization options, on-device generative artificial intelligence-based creative tools, an AI-powered co-playable character named Smart Zoi and photorealistic graphics powered by Unreal Engine 5. The soaring popularity of inZOI may be attributed to the lack of high-quality successors to life simulation games such as The Sims, as well as its use of advanced AI technology. Alongside high-quality graphics, AI technologies integrated into the game include features that enable in-game characters to precisely mirror a user's movements as well as a text-to-image function that creates visuals from written descriptions. With inZOI showing strong early signs of commercial success, there is growing interest in whether it could emerge as a new and sustainable revenue stream for Krafton, which has been struggling to replicate the success of its shooter game PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
South Korea's life game 'InZOI' challenges 'The Sims'
South Korean game publisher Krafton released early access to its life simulation game "InZOI" Friday, hoping its powerful lifelike graphics will unseat the decades-long dominance of "The Sims" hit franchise. Krafton, the developer of battle royale "PUBG: Battlegrounds", says it offers a fresh take on the concept using striking visuals -- with "InZOI" shooting to the top of wishlists on the online Steam platform. "What stood out the most when I played "InZOI" was just how visually stunning it is," said Kim Rail, a YouTuber known for playing "The Sims", a game whose last instalment debuted nearly a decade ago. "The game's character is rendered with such precision that she looks almost like a real person," Kim said. "After decorating interiors, taking a screenshot makes it look like a magazine photo due to the high visual quality". "The Sims", a spin-off from the popular "SimCity" franchise, takes players inside individual homes, allowing them to customize everything from furniture to relationships. Over 25 years, "The Sims" and its three sequels have sold more than 200 million copies, and Electronic Arts is now planning a multi-player version. But "InZOI" producer and director Kim Hyung-jun said they offered something new. "I believe "InZOI" offers something that "The Sims" does not, and that users will find a different kind of enjoyment in that," he said. "Inzoi" topped the best-selling games chart by revenue on Steam just 40 minutes after the launch Friday morning, while Krafton stocks in Seoul rose six percent. - K-pop career - "InZOI" producer Kim, an avid player of "The Sims", said it was an "honour" to be compared to the game. "'The Sims' is a philosophical work that offers diverse interpretations of life," he said. "At times, it felt like a miniature version of real life, and I was often amazed by how thoughtfully the developers portrayed various aspects". But Kim told AFP he wanted to focus more on how the "relationships" are portrayed in his game. "For instance, if a player gets into a fight somewhere, the news spreads, and they may receive criticism or support through social media. We've built a system where one event leads to another," he said. It also has a unique twist from its home nation, drawing on maps including one from South Korea -- and a possible career path that allows players to become a K-pop idol. "Tapping into the global interest in K-culture, the game features detailed recreations of Korean streetscapes, convenience stores, karaoke rooms, and traditional restaurants, allowing players to explore and engage with uniquely Korean settings," said Kim Jung-tae, a gaming professor at Dongyang University. It "lets players experience a wide range of everyday Korean life", he added. "InZOI" uses "Unreal Engine 5" developed by Epic Games, the first for a life simulation title, which supports detailed customization options for characters, including features such as eye bags and iris size. The impressive graphics come at a cost. The recommended systems for "InZOI" include an Intel i7 processor and an Nvidia RTX 3070 -- a significant leap from "The Sims 4", which runs on the more modest requirements of an Intel i5 and a GTX 650. Content creators suggest the challenge will be to woo the huge numbers of players of "The Sims", who are used to more moderate graphics but also lower computer specs. "The game's success is expected to hinge on the stability of its live service and the developers' ability to consistently deliver new content," said Kim, the professor. - 'Separate lives' - Krafton said the ambition to challenge a leader like "The Sims" came from the global success of "PUBG", a combat survival game whose mobile version surpassed one billion downloads and recorded 50 million daily active users. "Even within the company, no one truly expected that success," "InZOI" producer Kim Hyung-jun said. "Back then, the idea of creating something like that in Korea was an unusual challenge". So, despite Krafton having "limited understanding" of the life simulation genre, the company backed the idea, he said, adding that thankfully early release responses were "more enthusiastic " than they had expected. But, compared to "The Sims", Kim accepts his game still has "a long way to go". "'The Sims' 4 has been in service for 10 years, while "InZOI" has only been in development for two. I'd say it's about 20 percent complete in comparison," said Kim. "I don't view the comparison negatively. Just as everyone lives a unique life, "The Sims" and "InZOI" are separate 'lives', each with their value and appeal". hs/pjm/fox
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
InZOI director hopes the Sims rival will be "successful and beloved," continues moonlighting as a philosopher: "Life is a tragedy when seen up close, but a comedy when viewed from a distance"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The hyperreal life sim InZOI is poised to be a worthy Sims competitor once it releases in early access later this month, offering players both a tidy open world and, according to director Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim, life-changing philosophy. "As the saying goes, 'Life is a tragedy when seen up close, but a comedy when viewed from a distance,'" Kjun says somberly about InZOI in PC Gamer magazine's new issue 407, Jokerfying simulation games forevermore. Kjun has an amusing tendency to speak about InZOI like this, as if he's an ancient astrologer who's just seen the future in a barrel of wine; "It is said that among primates," Kjun said after InZOI was delayed in 2024, "raising a human child to adulthood takes the longest time because humans must be prepared to endure and adapt to their ever-changing surroundings. The extra love and care that is required to properly nurture a child is how I see our journey with InZOI – a game that we will be nurturing together from its Early Access birth." An early congratulations to us all on our new parenthood – InZOI's early access period begins March 28. More seriously, though, if you take the time to embrace his high-flown metaphors, it's clear that Kjun understands that intimacy is what attracts players to games like InZOI or The Sims. These simulation games grant you nearly full control of their worlds, as long as you take the time to learn all the quirks of gameplay – playing God requires patience. And a good attitude, Kjun says. "Beyond simply creating a successful and beloved game," Kjun tells PC Gamer, "we hope that InZOI will bring comfort to many players' lives." "We believe that observing life from a broader perspective can help us enjoy it more," he continues,adding: "We hope players will experience diverse lives, explore various scenarios, and enjoy life as if it were a playground." Hyper-realistic The Sims rival inZOI will announce a "roadmap for future updates, and pricing and DLC plans" in this month's showcase.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Upcoming The Sims competitor InZOI will feature ghostly Zoi that hang around after death to fix their karma
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The game director of InZOI, the upcoming competitor to The Sims, has revealed what happens to your Zois after they die. Spoiler alert: some of them may stick around. If you're someone who likes to let your Sims live out a natural life, dying due to old age or an unfortunate accident, congratulations, you're a monster and we can't be friends. I get far too attached to my creations and turn their aging off entirely, but for those of you who prefer to let nature take its course, there is some life after death in Inzoi. As spotted by PCGamer, director Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim took to the game's Discord server to explain some of its upcoming early-access features: "We want to keep the playability of ghosts fairly limited so it doesn't overshadow the main gameplay, but we also want to make sure the experience is engaging enough when it does happen." InZOI has a karma system, and if your Zoi has enough, it'll make its way to a peaceful afterlife when it dies. If it doesn't, it'll hang around after death as a ghost that you can "encounter at set times under certain conditions." They won't be playable right now, but that is planned for later on. "Any further development for ghosts will have to come after the release," Kjun says. Although the ghosts won't be playable yet, InZOI is implementing Nvidia Ace, the company's generative AI that features text-to-speech capabilities meant to make NPCs more life-like. It calls these NPCs "Smart Zoi," and in the video shared by publisher Krafton they sort of just seem like regular NPCs that react to the world around them. I saw the tech used at an Nvidia demo last year (not for InZOI), and wasn't very impressed, but maybe it'll be implemented in a creative way for InZOI. To get a better idea of what this Sims competitor will look like, check out our InZOI preview. You should also check out other games like The Sims if you're a fan of the genre.
