After the better part of two decades dominating the life simulation genre, much has been made about Inzoi challenging The Sims dominance. But while Inzoi’s arrival in early access saw a wave of interest, it’s yet to truly challenge The Sims cultural hold in terms of players. But that could be about to change. So is Inzoi’s upcoming introduction of mod support good or bad news for The Sims?
Background
Inzoi, arriving from Korean developer Krafton, is already in early access on Steam and has gained a huge amount of attention. Claiming to offer an incredibly detailed life simulation experience, Inzoi has captured the attention of players and press alike as a possible ‘Sims killer’. But it’s also been controversial for the purported use of AI in its gameplay to simulate the responses and activities of characters.
But it’s the announcement that both official mod support and a mod kit will be introduced at the end of May which has sparked a new wave of attention and interest. And considering the one advantage which The Sims indisputably had over Inzoi was its decades of success and legion of fans (with the corresponding amount of creator-made content), this could signal a major change in fortunes for EA and Maxis’ iconic franchise.
The Bad
Of course, with all that being said, we should do a more sober breakdown of what this means for The Sims. And to clarify, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be bad from players, far from it in fact (considering EA could definitely use a kick in the pants that competition would bring). But these are factors which could hit the Sims the most.
- Inzoi is newer and fresher: The Sims 4 is still the gold standard for life simulation, but it’s showing its age. Inzoi looks set to offer a newer engine and corresponding horsepower, which also opens up the playing field for even more creator content.
- The Sims 4 has clashed with a more style-oriented base: If you take a glance at The Sims Resources or many Simmers’ custom Sims, you see a stark contrast between the more cartoony Townies and uber-stylish custom characters. Inzoi is pursuing a more cool, contemporary look in its standard content.
- Inzoi is pushing more long-term support: A lot of The Sims 4 content relies on older tools, but Inzoi is pushing support for everything from Maya to Blender, both standards for mods and 3D assets alike, and much more accessible to boot.
The Good
- The Sims 4 is still the king: Inzoi has a long way to come before it can challenge The Sims, even assuming it’s massively successful. The Sims 4 still has a dedicated fanbase who eagerly play each and every day. And without cultivating that, Inzoi will always be behind.
- Sims’ Creator Content has a huge headstart: While Inzoi offers many benefits for mod creators, for players The Sims 4 has a massive library of both official and unofficial content to experience right now.
- The Sims’ silly side has its benefits: While Inzoi is definitely leaning into the sleek and stylish look, The Sims 4’s more ‘out there’ but uber-popular additions such as vampires and werewolves don’t look likely to arrive anytime soon.
So, bottom line, The Sims 4 still has huge advantages over Inzoi. But official mod support is second only to an official launch to see whether the life simulation genre has been blown wide open. So while you wait and see whether Inzoi’s mod support is good or bad news for The Sims, why not check out our guide on how to get started with modding The Sims 4?
