Much-anticipated Sims competitor Life by You has been canceled, announced Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja in a forum post. “[T]he game was lacking in some key areas,” he explained.
Life by You, Paradox Interactive’s open-world life sim, was set to go head-to-head against The Sims 4, but the publisher/developer has pushed it into the pool and deleted the ladders. Rather than announce a third delay, Paradox Interactive has abruptly decided to can the game entirely.
Developed in-house by Paradox Tectonic, Life By You caught the eye of many a Sims fan. Previews received a relatively positive response at Gamescom 2023. But Paradox has decided that not only is it not up to scratch, it’s not easily salvageable.
“Life by You had a number of strengths and the hard work of a dedicated team that went into realizing them,” Paradox’s statement reads, explaining that while a delay was an option, they weren’t convinced it would be the remedy the game needed.
“However, when we come to a point where we believe that more time will not get us close enough to a version we would be satisfied with, then we believe it is better to stop,” the statement adds.
As disappointing as this news is for would-be players, there may be bigger consequences for Paradox. As reported by CISION, the cancellation of the project means Paradox will be taking a loss of MSEK 208, just under $20 million.
“This is obviously tough and disappointing for everyone who poured their time and enthusiasm into this project, especially when our decision comes so late in the process,” Paradox Interactive says. Given this was Paradox Tectonic’s debut game, I hope disappointment, rather than layoffs, is where this ends.
Life by You will not be available.
