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inZOI Game Overview - Version 19 vs Version 20
Jun 8, 2026, 10:59 PM
Removed duplicate in-body wikilinks
Jun 15, 2026, 04:40 PM
Correct stale PlayStation 5 window in Platforms list to H1 2027
11What is inZOI22inZOI is a life simulation game developed by inZOI Studio and published by KRAFTON, Inc., the South Korean company behind PUBG: Battlegrounds. The game launched in Early Access on Steam on March 28, 2025, priced at $39.99 USD, which covers all expansions and updates through the full 1.0 release. Built on Unreal Engine 5, inZOI uses photorealistic visuals that separate it from other life simulation games on the market.44Players take on the role of an intern at AR COMPANY, a virtual reality firm managing a neighborhood of virtual people called "Zois." These Zois live with their own free will, performing actions and building relationships based on their personalities and life experiences. The game offers deep customization, open-ended gameplay, and an AI-driven character system called Smart Zoi that produces emergent storytelling.66Developer and Publisher88inZOI Studio is an internal development team within KRAFTON, headquartered in South Korea. The studio was formed to develop inZOI as a next-generation life simulation game.1010Development is led by Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim, who is Producer, Director, and CEO of inZOI Studio. Kim has over 24 years of game development experience, including roles at NCSOFT (Producer for AION, Executive Director) and KRAFTON (Associate Director for PUBG: Battlegrounds). The idea for inZOI came from his love for life simulation games, which he often played with his son. Kim has said that developing a life simulation of this scale was an "entirely new frontier," drawing on his background in MMORPGs to build the game's expansive open world.1313Unreal Engine 51515inZOI is one of the first life simulation games built on Unreal Engine 5. Character models have highly detailed skin, hair, and clothing, and environments use Hardware Lumen (UE5's global illumination and ray tracing system) for realistic lighting. Upscaling technologies including NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS help maintain playable framerates across a wide range of hardware. See System Requirements for specifications.1717Release Timeline1919ItemDescriptionNovember 2023inZOI unveiled at G-STAR 2023 with a gameplay demo covering character creation, build mode, city editing, weather, and core gameplay.August 2024New trailers shown at Gamescom 2024 Opening Night Live. The inZOI Character Studio launches on Steam for a limited window, reaching 18,000 concurrent players.November 2024KRAFTON confirms Early Access launch date of March 28, 2025.January 2025NVIDIA partnership announced for Smart Zoi AI using NVIDIA ACE.March 28, 2025Global Early Access launch on Steam. The game hits #1 on Steam's Global Top Sellers within 40 minutes, peaks at 87,377 concurrent players, and opens at 86% positive reviews ("Very Positive") from approximately 2,700 reviews.April 4, 2025Surpasses 1 million copies sold in its first week. KRAFTON's fastest-selling title ever.June 2025macOS version announced at Apple WWDC 2025. ModKit released for modders via CurseForge.August 20, 2025macOS version released (requires Apple Silicon M2 with 16GB). The free Island Getaway DLC launches the same day, introducing the tropical city of Cahaya.September 2025ModKit expanded with character face modding, hair modding, and architectural elements.December 23, 2025v0.5.0 update adding multitasking, group actions, business ownership, the crime system, holiday festivals, and various gameplay improvements.December 26, 2025Director Kjun publishes the Fundamentals First & 2026 Roadmap letter.January 2, 2026Part 2 of the 2026 Roadmap published ("Beyond the Fundamentals").February 12, 2026v0.6.0 mini update with Lunar New Year content, Smart Zoi improvements, 51 new Build Mode assets, and Canvas/mod UI improvements.2121Recent Releases (March-April 2026)2222The release timeline above ends in February 2026; the following entries cover the events that have happened since then and bring the overview current as of late April 2026.2424March 5, 2026: KRAFTON opened a Steam beta branch for the Unreal Engine 5.6 upgrade, allowing players to preview the engine transition without losing save compatibility. Mods were not supported on the beta branch.March 13, 2026: KRAFTON confirmed the full UE 5.6 rollout would slip from the March anniversary update to the April 2026 patch cycle to give the team more time for stabilisation work.March 26, 2026: v0.7.0 anniversary update shipped with approximately 60 new features and over 1,300 new items. Headline additions included the Memory System, the in-game news feed, the draggable minimap, multitasking, the Freelance Delivery courier career, the Florist career and flower farming, the Movie Theater business, baby customisation, bicycles, vehicle theft mechanics, and seasonal weather.March 27, 2026: v0.7.1 hotfix corrected a save-file compatibility issue affecting saves created in March 2025 or saves that had been dormant for more than ten months.March 28, 2026: Anniversary livestream and developer letter from Director Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim confirmed 55 Fundamentals First items completed since the December roadmap and announced an April pivot to stabilisation rather than new features.March 31, 2026: v0.7.2 hotfix restored the over-the-shoulder camera mode that had been disabled in v0.7.0.April 7, 2026: v0.7.3 hotfix resolved autonomous behaviour and business handling issues carried over from the anniversary release.April 8, 2026: v0.7.4 hotfix targeted reported crash cases during long sessions and household switching, and reiterated that all mods are automatically disabled by every update.April 10, 2026: v0.7.5 hotfix tuned Lumen Reflections so that the effect now disables automatically when Hardware Ray Tracing is set to Low or Medium, reducing GPU load on lower-spec cards. High and Ultra settings are unaffected.April 17, 2026: Director Kjun published a community letter targeting an early 2027 window for the full 1.0 release and confirming that the PS5 version is now treated as a parallel priority alongside the 1.0 launch rather than a fixed H1 2026 release.April 24, 2026: Kjun confirmed in a follow-up community message that May would also not be a major content release. The team's focus through late April and May is stabilisation and strengthening foundational systems before the next major content drop.2626As of late April 2026 the live build is v0.7.5. No further hotfixes or major updates have shipped since April 10, 2026. See Update History for the complete patch list and 2026 Roadmap for the realigned Q2 plan.2828Commercial Success and Reception3030inZOI's Early Access launch was a major commercial event:3232Ranked #1 on Steam's Global Top Wishlists the day before launch.Rose to #1 on Steam's Global Top Sellers (by revenue) within 40 minutes of release.Peak concurrent players reached 87,377 on launch day.Steam reviews opened at 86% positive ("Very Positive") from ~2,700 reviews.Surpassed 1 million copies sold by April 4, 2025, one week after launch.Over 1.2 million players interacted on Canvas on launch day alone.KRAFTON branded inZOI a "long-term franchise" following the strong launch.3434The months after launch told a more complicated story. Concurrent player counts dropped roughly 98% within three months of release, settling around 1,500 daily players by mid-2025. Steam review scores gradually declined from the initial 86% positive as players encountered bugs, performance issues, and content gaps typical of Early Access titles. The game has been widely covered as the first serious competitor to EA's The Sims franchise, and the level of early interest underscored genuine demand for alternatives in the life simulation genre.3636Generative AI Controversy3838Shortly after launch, community discussion focused on inZOI's use of generative AI tools, the AI Texture system, the 3D Printer, and Smart Zoi. Some players worried that KRAFTON was training AI models on third-party work without consent. KRAFTON responded publicly, stating that all AI features use proprietary models trained solely on company-owned and copyright-free assets, and that all AI runs on-device rather than in the cloud. The announcement split the community. Some praised the transparency, others remained skeptical of generative AI in games regardless of the data source.4040The Three Cities4242Dowon4444Dowon is a dense urban metropolis inspired by Seoul, South Korea. It features skyscrapers, commercial districts, residential neighborhoods, and a fully functional underground train system for fast travel. Dowon experiences four distinct seasons with real-world Korean weather cycles.4646Notable locations include the Narim Art Gallery, Cafe Gaon, the Harang River district, and Clover Park. Unique career paths include pro gaming and the Idol career at Adam Entertainment.4949Bliss Bay5151Bliss Bay is a coastal city inspired by Santa Monica, California. It has warm weather year-round, sparkling beaches, and an iconic amusement park that transforms into a fireworks display at night.5353Activities include surfing at Muscle Beach (requires Fitness Level 3), beach volleyball, and American-inspired dining. Unique careers include Amusement Park jobs, Furniture Store, Football Player, and Surf Shop.5555Cahaya5757Cahaya is a tropical island setting inspired by Southeast Asia, released on August 20, 2025 as the free "Island Getaway" DLC. It consists of three islands: the main island (farming, gathering, fishing), the resort island (recreation and relaxation at the Sri Lestari Resort), and a deserted island between them.5959Activities include snorkeling, boat rental, spa visits, Turtlebot races, treasure hunts, and farming. Zois travel between cities by booking flights through their smartphone.6161Life Stages6363inZOI features nine life stages. See the Life Stages article for full details.6565Newborn (1 day), birth only, not selectableToddler (2 days), birth onlyChild (7 days)Adolescent (6 days), aging only, not selectableTeenager (4.5 days)Young Adult (9 days)Adult (20 days)Middle-Aged (16 days)Senior (variable, ~17 days)6767Core Gameplay6969ItemDescriptionCharacter creationOver 250 customization parameters across all selectable life stages. Gender options include Male, Female, and Non-binary.Life simulationZois autonomously eat, sleep, socialize, work, and pursue hobbies. The trait system uses 18 traits across 9 categories based on the Enneagram framework.Skills27 skills from creative pursuits like Art and Cooking to practical abilities like Housework and Programming.CareersMultiple career paths across cities, from restaurants and shops to pro gaming and the Idol career. v0.5.0 added business ownership.Build ModeA construction system for designing homes and placing furniture. Includes the Furniture Workbench and the 3D Printer for converting images into objects.Crime systemIntroduced in v0.5.0, Zois can become thieves or scammers through the Suspicious Job Agency. Crimes escalate from level 0-5 with increasing rewards and risks. See Crime.7171Smart Zoi7373Smart Zoi is inZOI's AI character system, built with NVIDIA's ACE (Avatar Cloud Engine) technology. It runs a Mistral NeMo Minitron small language model (0.5 billion parameters) entirely on-device, no cloud connection needed. The model uses about 1 GB of VRAM and requires an NVIDIA RTX GPU (minimum RTX 3060). Smart Zois generate inner thoughts, build daily schedules, and make autonomous decisions based on over 400 mental elements. The v0.6.0 update improved Smart Zoi's behavioral patterns.7575Modding and Canvas7777The official ModKit launched in June 2025, using Unreal Engine Blueprints with Maya and Blender plugins. Mods are distributed through CurseForge (no Steam Workshop integration is planned at this time). The December 2025 update expanded to most outfit types and interaction scripts. The 2026 roadmap includes vehicle modding, a CAZ Wizard expansion, and Lua scripting support by December 2026.7979Canvas is inZOI's built-in user-generated content platform. Over 470,000 creations have been uploaded, spanning Zoi designs, houses, faces, outfits, rooms, furniture, and custom poses. Canvas is accessible both in-game and on the Canvas website.8181Platforms and Future Plans8383As of February 2026, inZOI is available on:8585Windows PC via Steam (Early Access since March 28, 2025)macOS released August 20, 2025 (Apple Silicon M2 or newer, 16GB)8787Upcoming:8989PlayStation 5 confirmed for H1 2026Xbox Series X|S under consideration, not confirmed90+PlayStation 5 confirmed for H1 2027 (revised May 15, 2026)Xbox Series X|S under consideration, not confirmed9191The 2026 Roadmap outlines roughly seven to eight free updates across the year, covering expanded careers, a reputation system, part-time jobs, the Fate Engine, Canvastown (a new compact world), phased multiplayer rollout, basements, terrain editing, and pets. All DLC and updates remain free through Early Access.9393Getting Started9595System Requirements hardware specs and Smart Zoi GPU requirementsCharacter Creation 250+ customization optionsBuild Mode home construction, 3D Printer, Furniture WorkbenchSkills all 27 skillsCareers career paths across citiesMeow and Economy in-game currencySmart Zoi NVIDIA ACE-powered AIDowon, Bliss Bay, Cahaya the three citiesCanvas user-generated content sharingCrime the thief and scammer paths from v0.5.0
