Inzoi's getting multiplayer after South Korea's president told the director to hop to it: 'It almost felt like I was getting talked to by the company's CEO'

Inzoi - two characters pose for a selfie together in front of a blue convertible car

(Image credit: Krafton)

Krafton's life sim Inzoi released in early access this March, since when it's had a slightly troubled time of things: initial sales were impressive, and the game receives regular updates and hotfixes, but something about it hasn't quite landed with the vast audience that still prefers the slightly cosier and odder vibes of The Sims.

Hope springs eternal, however, and now director and producer Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim has announced that multiplayer functionality is in the works for Inzoi: which, given the popularity of a certain Sims multiplayer mod, may well attract some curious life simmers. What's most surprising, however, is that the suggestion of this functionality came from the very top.

How InZOI was born; Dubai's digital future and video games | Gamer Galaxy - YouTube

Watch On

Apparently he wouldn't let it go, and so Inzoi players can now expect to see a multiplayer element to the title: albeit there aren't yet any details or a timeframe. "We never officially announced it, but I think because of that day and probably this podcast, the news has started to leak out a bit," says Kim. "Inzoi is indeed developing a multiplayer aspect to the game."

We should probably caveat this: Kim says that the president's suggestion directly led to the decision to add multiplayer, which may well be true and justified by what he said. It may also be the case that multiplayer was always planned, and this is a funny anecdote to hang it on.

Either way reaction among the fanbase is split, with some feeling that Inzoi has much bigger issues to fix first. A recent player survey suggests that Inzoi's biggest problems right now are overwhelmingly the fact it's "lacking simulation content" and has painfully awkward social interactions.

Which would seem like important things to fix first. But it's also the case that Inzoi has one big direct competitor that doesn't offer a co-op experience without mods, and official multiplayer support would be a pretty good differentiator. Whatever the truth: the president requested it. You don't have much of a choice after that.

TOPICS

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.