It’s no secret that life simulation game inZOI was pipped to be a serious contender against rival game The Sims, which has now been around for a staggering 25 years. Although it was to be released in early access (i.e. playable but not fully completed), many players were excited to give it a try.
Upon release, inZOI received positive reviews. Not only that, but inZOI ended up selling over a million copies within its first week of release. This looked like a very promising start to a brand-new game like inZOI. So this is the puzzler: why has inZOI suddenly lost so many players?
According to statistics from Steam, inZOI has lost an astonishing 85% of its original players. That’s a huge amount. Why such a big drop in players? That’s what we’re going to explore.
You can read KeenGamer’s early access preview of inZOI, if you want to see what we thought of it. inZOI is also now available from Steam for $39.99 if you’d like to play it yourself.
Players Have Got Enough From the Early Access Version
inZOI being released in early access means that the game is not fully finished being developed. We don’t have a concrete date or even window on when the full release of inZOI will be available. According to a roadmap for inZOI, free updates are to be expected for the rest of 2025 and into 2026, with no confirmation of when it will leave early access status.
Not Finished Yet Plenty Playable
You shouldn’t mistake early access for meaning half-finished or underdeveloped. Plenty of updates are planned, but inZOI is very much in a playable state. There’s lots to do that makes it easily comparable to its rival The Sims 4:
- You can create detailed Zois
- Choose which world to live in
- Build and customize your own home
- Zois can live full lives such as tending to needs, wants, going to work or school, making friends, get married, and having children.
There’s no doubt that inZOI is a well-fleshed-out life simulation game just like The Sims, even in its early access state.
When I played inZOI myself, I was honestly overwhelmed at how much there was to do. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do first, what I wanted to try out. Although I was aware inZOI was in early access and had lots more content to come, it was hard to believe that the game was unfinished. It honestly felt like a full-out completed game. There were a few nods to it having upcoming content, such as pets and more worlds, but otherwise there was a lot to be kept busy with.
So Much to Do
inZOI didn’t feel like the sort of game where you can only play for a while before you’ve done everything you’ve wanted. It doesn’t contain a story mode. It has endless gameplay. There’s so much stuff to explore and try out, such as:
- What Desired Life should I try next?
- What trait haven’t I tried yet?
- Are there any skills I have yet to try out?
- What’s this career that I haven’t done yet like?
- How does getting married and having a child play out in this game?
You can see how inZOI offers so much exploration in terms of trying out unexplored gameplay. I’ve played The Sims 4 for over 10 years, and I feel I’ve played perhaps 90% of it. inZOI is a totally new game with new ideas and possibilities. I want to see how it compares to The Sims 4, what’s new, what I haven’t tried yet. That’s an open invitation to keep playing inZOI.
So, that begs the question: why the quick loss in interest?
With so many options for gameplay, it seems impossible for interest to be lost.
Players May Want to Wait for Next Update or Even Full Release
It might be the fact that inZOI is still in early access for now. It could be that some players wanted to see what the game was like, try it out, and now they have, that’s enough for them. Even if they didn’t try out every little thing the game offered, they just wanted to give it a go and then rest it a while.
Play a Bit Until the Next Update
This isn’t to say their interest has completely gone, but they might have decided to wait until inZOI‘s next update, which is currently scheduled for sometime in May. They’ll probably play again for a while, see what’s new, then possibly rest the game again until the next update comes along, and so on. The idea of a new still-in-development game with lots of upcoming content might give some people a little hesitation in being too invested too soon.
A new world reportedly coming in August? Now that’s a good reason to play!
People Who Haven’t Played It at All
We are mainly discussing players who have already bought and played inZOI before stopping, but what about those who are still holding back and not even tried out the early access version?
- Some might be reluctant to play an unfinished game that is scheduled to have several major updates, which includes new gameplay, enhancements or improvements to existing gameplay, as well as new clothes and objects.
- Perhaps people have decided to wait until the game has left early access and is fully released, wanting to get their full money’s worth. inZOI isn’t free-to-play, costing $39.99. That amount of money to invest in an unfinished game might put some people off, at least at this stage.
Players want to make sure they’re getting a quality game, worried it might not have enough to make it worth getting yet, or have bugs that makes it annoying to play. Neither of these I had any issues with, but I can understand why some would rather wait until the game is officially finalized.
Is inZOI being in early access a possible reason for hesitation in playing?
The Hype for inZOI Has Died Away
Before it came out, inZOI was talked about a lot. Everyone seemed to be saying how finally we had a rival game to The Sims, how inZOI looked as if it was going to be much better in every possible way. It’s no surprise that so many people wanted to buy it, culminating in over a million sales in week one. But then if so many people bought it, why did the player count die away as quickly as it began? One word comes to mind: hype.
Hype Doesn’t Have to Be Bad
I felt that inZOI was hyped. Even I was influenced by the hype surrounding the game, resulting in me trying it out. I don’t necessarily think there’s anything wrong with hype:
- It gets people’s attention.
- It gets people excited when they see others bigging something up so much.
- There’s a sense of wanting to try something out to see if the hype is really worth it.
Hype can be a good thing, getting people excited and drawing potentially even more players in.
Was inZOI Overhyped?
But was inZOI overhyped though, falling into the trap of being bigged up a lot and then falling flat of expectations? Here’s what I think: no. Having played inZOI myself mainly because of all the hype around it, I don’t think it was overrated. I didn’t think people were making a big fuss over nothing.
I won’t deny that inZOI is an exceptionally good game, a real competitor to The Sims, even after its established status as THE life sim game for so long. But that’s my personal opinion though. Do other people necessarily agree? That might not be the case for some. Not everyone is won over by a game, or shares the same opinion as to how good a game is. Even the biggest bestselling games have their critics.
Did Interest Fizzle Out?
Games can get hyped up, or in some cases, receive backlash, which can influence people’s decisions on whether or not to play it. But in the case of inZOI, is this a case of many people wanting to play to see how good it is, and then regardless of their opinion, just simply decided not to continue playing? Once all the reviews and online chatter had died down, did people’s interest in playing do the same? It’s possible that’s what’s happened here with inZOI.
Could inZOI have been hyped so much that it caused interest to die out? Who knows.
Players Have Turned Their Interest to The Sims
I’m unashamedly a huge fan of The Sims, and admittedly was hesitant to turn to inZOI, but my curiosity became aroused upon its release date, and I eventually caved in and decided to give it a go. As they say, you don’t know until you try. I did just that, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, perhaps more so than I thought.
I did worry that inZOI would replace The Sims as my new go-to life sim game. However, after playing for a while, I decided that there’s no reason why I can’t play both. While both being life sims and similar to each other, they are also very different games in my opinion. But what do other players think?
inZOI Caused Renewed Interest in The Sims
Before inZOI was released, something rather extraordinary happened. Players’ interest in The Sims 4 actually grew, with Steam recording its highest ever play count! This was clearly down to people’s heightened interest in inZOI before its release, but perhaps players wanted to play The Sims 4 to make comparisons, or have something else to play if inZOI wasn’t for them after all.
Why The Sims Over inZOI?
With inZOI now out, what does this mean for The Sims 4? According to Steam, The Sims continues to keep a steady interest from players, while inZOI has suffered its aforementioned drop in player count. This is certainly intriguing, but why? There are a few possibilities:
- The Sims 4 base game is free-to-play, while you have to pay for inZOI.
- The Sims 4 is a completed game with several updates and numerous DLC since its release over 10 years ago, while inZOI is still in early access and in its infancy.
- People originally playing The Sims 4 tried out inZOI but soon returned to The Sims.
- People tried inZOI first but then tried The Sims 4 and decided to stick with it.
The last two points I list is an interesting one, and with deeper interpretations. I was obviously in the camp of original The Sims 4 player trying out a new different life sim game. However, while I still want to play The Sims 4, this doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on inZOI.
While inZOI is a fantastic game, The Sims 4 also gets a lot of things right.
The Sims 4 Fans and Critics
I personally love The Sims 4, even since its initial release back in 2014, where it seems almost barebones now in comparison to how much it’s evolved. I agree, it’s not a perfect game. It does have flaws, but so do my other favorite games like Uncharted and Red Dead Redemption. Just because they’re not perfect doesn’t mean I don’t love them.
A lot of people don’t share the same sentiments about The Sims 4 though, not when it first released, and not now. People are annoyed about the following things:
- Its endless DLC (I don’t want to think about how much it would cost to buy every DLC full price!)
- Bugs that are game breaking for some unfortunate players
- Gameplay drawbacks (such as lacking a Create-A-Style from The Sims 3 and customizable worlds).
A lot of people like or even love The Sims, but there are also plenty of critics.
inZOI or The Sims?
The Sims 4 has a love/hate relationship with players, and for inZOI, this can mean the following:
- The arrival of inZOI for critics of The Sims 4 might be a welcome relief for them, giving them the life sim game they wanted after all this time.
- There’s also the other group, people who still prefer The Sims 4 to inZOI, perhaps because they’re so used to it, or there are things that The Sims 4 still does better.
- Then there’s a third group, people who like both games and are quite happy to balance their time playing both.
- There’s also the group who might not like either game for their own reasons.
Whatever players feel about both The Sims 4 and inZOI, this could play a part in inZOI‘s fallen player count.
The Sims? inZOI? Both? Or neither?
Will Players Return to inZOI?
This is what it ultimately comes down to: will interest return to inZOI? I believe it will. I’ve certainly not lost interest in inZOI. I’ll admit that I have stopped playing for a while, but that’s not because I don’t like the game or don’t want to play anymore. I’ve just been busy. I haven’t played The Sims 4 much either, except to check out the latest update and the newest Kits. I do really want to get back into playing inZOI though. There’s so much I haven’t done yet.
But what about other players? I think they’ll gradually return to inZOI, for a few reasons:
- Whenever a new update comes to the game, players will be enticed to check out what’s new.
- If players want a break from The Sims 4 or other The Sims titles, they’ll have inZOI as an alternative.
- As inZOI continues to grow from updates and becomes more fleshed out, interest will be regained.
The huge drop in players actively playing inZOI doesn’t mean disaster for this title. It’s been a big hit based on the number of positive reviews. It’s just that players are holding out for more. It’s not that inZOI isn’t enough, but that we know it has a lot more to offer, and we’re just waiting to see what else it will bring. Will it continue to rival The Sims or become its own success story?
I have no doubt that this isn’t the end for inZOI. If anything, this is just the beginning for what could be – and truthfully already is – an exceptionally good game.
A decline in player count doesn’t spell the end for inZOI.
