Canvastown
Canvastown is a new inZOI world under development using the Fate Engine, designed as a compact rural countryside setting (~50 lots) that prioritizes performance and lower system requirements. Planned for late 2026, Canvastown is also central to the inZOI-Online multiplayer rollout.
Canvastown is a brand-new world being developed for inZOI as part of the 2026 strategic roadmap. Unlike the existing cities of Dowon, Bliss Bay, and Kucingku (each inspired by real-world urban or resort environments), Canvastown is designed as a compact, rural countryside setting with an emphasis on performance accessibility and community storytelling. It is built on a new internal engine called the Fate Engine, which KRAFTON is developing to lower the technical requirements needed to run inZOI and to eventually transfer those optimizations back to the existing cities.
Overview
Canvastown was announced as part of the "Beyond the Fundamentals" 2026 Roadmap revealed in early January 2026. It represents a distinct development track from inZOI's regular quarterly updates; it has its own dedicated team separate from the team handling the core game's content updates, and its scope and timeline are described by KRAFTON as flexible, meaning it may shift based on development progress and community feedback.
The primary goals for Canvastown are threefold: to create a new residential environment with a different aesthetic from existing cities, to reduce the hardware barrier for playing inZOI through engine optimizations, and to serve as the anchor world for the inZOI-Online multiplayer platform that KRAFTON is building for 2026.
The Fate Engine
The Fate Engine is a new internal game engine being developed alongside Canvastown. It is designed to address one of the community's most consistent concerns about inZOI: its high hardware requirements. The game currently requires a capable mid-to-high-end PC to run smoothly at quality settings, as documented in the system requirements.
Rather than attempting to rebuild the existing cities from scratch, KRAFTON is using Canvastown as a proving ground for Fate Engine optimizations. The approach allows the team to test new rendering, simulation, and asset management techniques on a smaller, purpose-built world first. Successful optimizations from Canvastown are intended to be gradually backported to Dowon, Bliss Bay, and Kucingku.
This development philosophy positions Canvastown not just as additional content, but as a technical investment that benefits System Requirements for the entire game over time.
Setting and Design
Canvastown is a calm, pastoral, rural countryside, a deliberate contrast to the existing cities. Where Dowon offers dense urban metro life, Bliss Bay a sun-soaked coastal culture, and Kucingku a resort island atmosphere, Canvastown leans into open countryside living with more space between properties, a quieter pace, and an emphasis on personal storytelling and community sharing.
One of Canvastown's defining features is the ability to save, share, and download 'canvases': captured gameplay situations. A Zoi's meaningful life moment (a first date, a family celebration, a career milestone) can be saved and shared with other players, who can download it and let their own Zoi experience a version of that situation.
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Theme | Calm, pastoral rural countryside |
Canvastown #1 Lot Count | Approximately 40 residential and community lots |
Canvastown #2 Lot Count | Approximately 50 lots (expanded from #1) |
City Type | Compact, lower-density compared to existing cities |
Target Release: #1 | June 2026 (flexible, subject to development progress) |
Target Release: #2 | October 2026 (flexible, subject to development progress) |
Release Timeline
Canvastown is being released in two versions:
Canvastown #1 (June 2026): The initial release, a smaller village with approximately 40 residential lots built on the Fate Engine. This version establishes the countryside setting and introduces the core canvas saving and sharing features.
Canvastown #2 (October 2026): An expansion of the original, growing the world to approximately 50 lots with additional content and a deeper implementation of the rural theme. This version is also intended to coincide with the large-scale inZOI-Online multiplayer rollout.
Canvastown and inZOI-Online
Canvastown is closely tied to Multiplayer and Canvas, KRAFTON's initiative to transform inZOI into a shared multiplayer experience. The inZOI-Online rollout for 2026 runs in parallel with Canvastown's development:
Phase | Planned Timeline | Features |
|---|---|---|
Phase 1 | January–February 2026 | Persistent account-linked 'My Zoi' characters, session-resume functionality, web-based Online Plaza, lobby systems, online chat channels |
Phase 2 | March 2026 | Personal housing with cloud saves; host other players in your private residence |
Phase 3 | June 2026 | Canvastown #1 launches; session management tools; play official mods together online |
Phase 4 | October 2026 | Canvastown #2 launches; large-scale multiplayer with dedicated servers; visit major cities with thousands of players simultaneously |
The rural countryside setting of Canvastown is intended to provide a more peaceful social environment than the busy metropolitan cities, giving players a lower-pressure space for shared housing and community activities in multiplayer sessions.
Development Status
As of February 2026, Canvastown is in active R&D. KRAFTON placed it in a separate development category from the core quarterly content updates, alongside initiatives like modding improvements and inZOI-Online. All of these R&D-track features are described as subject to scope and timeline changes based on development progress.
Players can follow Canvastown development through KRAFTON's official inZOI forums, the "Brainstorm with Kjun" developer communication channel, and the 2026 Roadmap wiki article.