Revision 9

What is inZOI

inZOI 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.

Players 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.

Developer and publisher

inZOI 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.

Development is led by Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim, who serves as 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.

Unreal Engine 5

inZOI 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.

Release timeline

Commercial success and reception

inZOI's Early Access launch was a major commercial event:

• Ranked #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.

The 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.

Generative AI controversy

Shortly 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.

The three cities

Dowon

Dowon 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.

Notable 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.

Bliss Bay

Bliss 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.

Activities 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.

Cahaya

Cahaya 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.

Activities include snorkeling, boat rental, spa visits, Turtlebot races, treasure hunts, and farming. Zois travel between cities by booking flights through their smartphone.

Life stages

inZOI features nine life stages. See the Life Stages article for full details.

1. Newborn (1 day), birth only, not selectable

2. Toddler (2 days), birth only

3. Child (7 days)

4. Adolescent (6 days), aging only, not selectable

5. Teenager (4.5 days)

6. Young Adult (9 days)

7. Adult (20 days)

8. Middle-Aged (16 days)

9. Senior (variable, ~17 days)

Core gameplay

Smart Zoi

Smart 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.

Modding and Canvas

The 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.

Canvas 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 at canvas.playinzoi.com.

Platforms and future plans

As of February 2026, inZOI is available on:

• Windows PC via Steam (Early Access since March 28, 2025)

• macOS released August 20, 2025 (Apple Silicon M2 or newer, 16GB)

Upcoming:

• PlayStation 5 confirmed for H1 2026

• Xbox Series X|S under consideration, not confirmed

The 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.

Getting started

• System Requirements hardware specs and Smart Zoi GPU requirements

• Character Creation 250+ customization options

• Build Mode home construction, 3D Printer, Furniture Workbench

• Skills all 27 skills

• Careers career paths across cities

• Meow and Economy in-game currency

• Smart Zoi NVIDIA ACE-powered AI

• Dowon, Bliss Bay, Cahaya the three cities

• Canvas user-generated content sharing

• Crime the thief and scammer paths from v0.5.0