Revision 1

Overview

The October 2025 update (v0.4.0) is the third major content update for inZOI during its Early Access period. Released on October 30, 2025, it introduces Halloween-themed seasonal content, a ghost gameplay system that lets players continue playing after a Zoi's death, funeral properties, pumpkin farming with new recipes, and a comprehensive overhaul of the mentality system. The update also shortens the default in-game day from 96 minutes to 48 minutes, adds over 100 new Create a Zoi items, introduces 120 new Build Mode items, and delivers improvements to modding support.

Release Details

Halloween Seasonal Content

Pumpkin Farming and Carving

Pumpkins are a new crop added in this update. Players can grow pumpkins on their own plots or purchase them from the Farming Supply Store or through the Pocket Market. Once harvested, pumpkins can be taken to a crafting table and carved into jack-o-lanterns. Several different face shapes and expressions are available for carving. Finished jack-o-lanterns serve two purposes: they can be worn as headgear by Zois or placed around the home and property as seasonal decorations.

Three new pumpkin-based recipes have been added to the cooking system:

Trick-or-Treat Events

Players can place a Halloween Candy Basket on their property to trigger trick-or-treat events. At night, children will visit the property and ask for candy. Giving out candy rewards the player with special Halloween-themed items. Some rare candy types yield additional gifts. This system ties directly into the new pumpkin recipes, since Pumpkin Candy can be used to fill the basket.

Ghost Fish

Five new ghost fish species have been added to the fishing system. These fish appear exclusively between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM, glowing with a spectral effect in the water. Ghost fish can be caught using standard fishing equipment, displayed in aquariums at home, or sold for Meow.

Halloween Cosmetics and Build Items

The update adds 38 unlockable Halloween cosmetic items that can be obtained through Canvas events, plus 58 unlockable Halloween-themed furniture and decoration items available through trick-or-treat events. These items range from spooky costumes and accessories to themed lighting, wall decorations, and outdoor props.

Ghost Gameplay

The v0.4.0 update introduces a ghost system that allows players to continue controlling a Zoi after death. When a Zoi dies, the player is presented with the option to select "On to the Afterlife," which begins a ghost phase lasting three in-game days. During this period, the deceased Zoi appears as a translucent ghost that can move around the world and interact with living Zois and objects in limited ways.

Ghosts have access to a set of urges that are tied to their cause of death. By fulfilling these death-related urges, ghosts unlock special skills and can complete ghost-exclusive missions. At the end of the three-day ghost phase, the player chooses between ascending to the afterlife (permanently removing the Zoi from play) or attending their own funeral before departing. Reincarnation is not included in this update.

Ghost gameplay is documented in full on the Ghosts page.

Funeral System

Three new property types support the funeral system introduced in this update:

Urns are now automatically generated for any Zoi who dies after this update is installed. Players can use the "Make Event" option to organize a funeral ceremony and invite other Zois to attend. The "Enshrine Deceased" interaction allows urns to be placed in either a columbarium or cemetery. These properties are available across all three cities: Dowon, Bliss Bay, and Cahaya.

Mentality System Overhaul

The update restructures how Zoi personalities work by unifying traits, characteristics, ambitions, and urges under a single mentality framework. The goal is to make each Zoi's personality feel more distinct and to reduce overlap between different personality categories.

Trait Changes

Three pairs of overlapping traits have been replaced:

New Characteristics

Fifteen new characteristics have been added to the system. These provide more nuanced personality modifiers that influence how Zois behave in their daily routines and social interactions. Examples include Extroverted, Depressed, Bookworm, and Emotionally Needy.

Ambitions in Create a Zoi

Players can now select ambitions for their Zois during the Create a Zoi character creation process. NPC Zois receive ambitions automatically based on their assigned traits.

Urge System Expansion

Over 140 new urges have been added and 120 existing urges have been reworked to better reflect personality differences. Urges now respond more dynamically to a Zoi's traits and current emotional state, making daily behavior feel less repetitive.

Karma System

The Karma system has been simplified. Karma scores, dedicated icons, and the standalone Karma menu have been removed. Karma-based interactions have been merged into the general interaction system rather than being tracked as a separate mechanic.

Day Cycle and Simulation Changes

The default in-game day length has been reduced from 96 minutes to 48 minutes. This change affects how quickly time passes for all activities, routines, and needs decay. Daily routines such as wake-up times, meals, naps, and social interactions have been rebalanced to fit the shorter cycle and feel more natural. Players who prefer the original pacing can switch back to the 96-minute cycle through Game Settings under Simulation > Day Length.

Additional simulation changes include reduced death probability from natural disasters and extreme temperature, and increased initial move-in funds for new games to give players more financial flexibility at the start.

City and Property Updates

Beyond the funeral properties, several cities receive new locations and improvements:

Non-player lots can now be edited directly through Edit City (M) > Edit Property, making it easier to customize community spaces without needing to move a household in first.

Loans and Side Jobs

The loan system now has consequences for overdue payments. Zois with overdue loans receive text message reminders, and persistent non-payment can affect their relationships. Loans can be repaid immediately through a computer or the smartphone, streamlining the repayment process.

New side job rabbit-hole events have been added to provide extra income opportunities. Additionally, 144 new rabbit-hole career opportunity cards have been introduced for Dowon and Bliss Bay jobs.

New Interactions

The update adds interactions across multiple life stages and social categories:

Ten new social events have also been introduced, including blind dates, group study sessions, and fitness clubs. Dynamic crowd roles now include police officers, thieves, cleaners, and street artists, adding more variety to public spaces.

A new burglar break-in event can occur at Zoi residences, creating unexpected gameplay scenarios. Zois can now teleport to scheduled event locations, and a Photo Mode app has been added to the smartphone.

Create a Zoi Additions

Over 100 new Create a Zoi items have been added, spread across face presets, hairstyles, facial hair, makeup options, and accessories. The update includes new makeup presets, a category randomizer for quickly generating looks, five new poses per age and gender combination, and a new studio background for character creation screenshots.

As noted above, ambitions can now be assigned during character creation, and the mentality system changes are reflected in the trait and characteristic selection screens.

Build Mode Additions

A total of 120 new Build Mode items have been added across bedroom, living room, outdoor, and special effects categories. Combined with the 58 unlockable Halloween items, the update significantly expands decorating options.

Smart Snap

The Smart Snap feature allows players to press X while placing an item to automatically align it with nearby objects. This makes precise furniture arrangement faster and reduces the need for manual adjustments using the gizmo controls.

AI Build (Experimental)

An experimental AI-powered build feature has been introduced for Windows users with compatible hardware. Players can specify rooms and provide a text description, and the system will generate a building layout automatically. This feature requires an NVIDIA RTX 3000 series or newer GPU with at least 8 GB VRAM, or an AMD RX 6000 series or newer with at least 12 GB VRAM. AI Build does not support exterior elements or public/themed properties.

Other Build Mode Changes

• Roofs can now overlap, giving more flexibility for complex roof designs

• Wall guidelines have been added to assist with precise wall placement

• Snap scaling and gizmo key guides have been improved for the camera and build tools

Modding Updates

The modding system receives several improvements in this update. Localization mods are now supported through a dedicated wizard, allowing modders to create translation packs for different languages. The Mod Browser has been updated to auto-install mods from CurseForge directly within the game client.

New tutorials have been added for the ModKit (built on Unreal Engine 5), and the existing wizards for creating hair, skin, doors, fences, and windows have been improved with clearer workflows.

Audio and Performance

The lobby music and in-game soundtrack have been updated with new tracks, including Halloween-themed background music generated through AI composition. Graphics optimizations improve frame rates and reduce loading times across all hardware tiers. The Nanite rendering feature can now be disabled in settings for players with lower-end graphics hardware, providing a meaningful performance boost at the cost of geometric detail. Support has been added for audio output devices with high sampling rates.

Bug Fixes

The v0.4.0 update addresses a wide range of bugs across all game systems. Notable fixes include:

• Corrected Zoi eyelid and eyeball animations during sleep

• Fixed fish floating in the air after being caught

• Resolved an issue where resort gowns caused travel problems

• Fixed male Zoi scooter riding animation

• Corrected toddler portrait display in the adoption UI

• Fixed vehicle usage in prisons

• Resolved step transition errors in Build Mode

• Fixed issues with the Surf the Waves interaction, delivery dialogs, thought bubble icons, and tooltip display

• Corrected online dating mechanics and interaction behaviors

• Fixed short hair duplication and gender change bugs in Create a Zoi

• Resolved decorative object rotation issues in Build Mode

• Eliminated frame drops in the lobby caused by certain mods

• Improved mod folder detection and fixed body-region outfit limitations in the ModKit

• Addressed various camera and vehicle behavior issues

Developer Notes

Krafton noted that players using existing save files may encounter stability issues due to the scope of simulation changes in this update. The development team recommended backing up saves before applying the patch. Ongoing improvements to save compatibility and system stability were planned for subsequent hotfix releases.