In a major disappointment for life simulation fans, Paradox Interactive has made the difficult decision to cancel the development and release of its long-awaited game ‘Life By You’ after over three years in the making. The ambitious title, led by former Sims creator Rod Humble, had been posited as a innovative competitor to hit franchises like The Sims but ultimately failed to meet Paradox’s quality standards.

The cancellation, announced late yesterday by Paradox deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, comes after the Stockholm-based publisher had already pushed back the game’s early access release on three separate occasions – from an initial September 2023 target to March 2024, June 2024, and finally an indefinite delay in May of this year.

In his statement, Lilja was frank in labeling the termination of ‘Life By You’ as “a clear failure on Paradox’s part to meet both our own and the community’s expectations.” Despite the dedicated work of the development team at Paradox Tectonic, he admitted that continued delays would still not bring the game to a satisfactory level for full release.

“Though a time extension was an option, once we took that pause to re-evaluate Life by You, it became clear to us that the road leading to a release that we felt confident about was far too long and uncertain,” Lilja explained. “When we come to a point where we believe that more time will not get us close enough to a version we would be satisfied with, then we believe it is better to stop.”

The decision is undoubtedly a major blow for Paradox, which had ambitious plans for ‘Life By You’ to help expand the company’s portfolio beyond its core strategy titles. Revealed in 2019, the game promised deeper role-playing elements and complexity compared to traditional life sims on the market.

“This is obviously tough and disappointing for everyone who poured their time and enthusiasm into this project, especially when our decision comes so late in the process,” Lilja said, acknowledging the multi-year investment. However, he emphasized that Paradox’s “job is to release games that are fun, interesting, and challenging for our players.”

In a separate statement, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester bluntly noted that a satisfactory version of ‘Life By You’ ultimately proved “too far away” based on the development team’s progress. The cancellation is expected to negatively impact Paradox’s second quarter financial results due to sunk development costs.

“We’ve performed poorly in recent releases,” Wester stated, citing the troubled launch of Cities: Skylines 2 and splitting with another developer. “It is clear that we must make further changes so that quality is more consistent and the promises we make to our players are met.”

With ‘Life By You’ now off the table, fans of life simulation games still have several other upcoming titles to look forward to, including Paralives, Project Rene (aka The Sims 5), and unannounced games from inZOI and Midsummer Studios. However, Paradox’s very public inability to deliver on the ambition of ‘Life By You’ despite years of efforts underscores the major challenges inherent to the genre.

Tags: Early Access Life by You Life simulation game Paradox Interactive Paradox Tectonic Simulation Game Single-player video game Strategy Video Game Unreal Engine 4