It’s 2024 and we’re still shockingly short on games one could consider a direct competitor to The Sims. After Life by You’s unfortunate demise, Krafton’s inZOI is now the next hopeful to unmonopolize the life sim scene, and I’m becoming increasingly sold on it by the day—especially now the developer has confirmed it’ll have official mod support thanks to a partnership with Overwolf.
That’s the owner of Curseforge, arguably one of the biggest repositories for add-ons and mods. It’s been the go-to app for games like Minecraft and World of Warcraft for a hot minute, as well as housing over 50,000 mods for The Sims 4. Krafton says it’ll be working with Overwolf to scout out modders and enlist them to create goodies in the run up to the game’s release some time this year.
In a press release, Hyungjun Kim, the game’s producer and director, said: “inZOI is committed to encouraging easier mod creation and artistic expression from players. By partnering with CurseForge, we are providing a dedicated platform for inZOI mods, ensuring that our community has the best tools and resources to bring their creative visions to life.”
It seems that Krafton is hoping to cultivate a community similar to that of The Sims, which I’d argue has long been propped up by the effort of its players and modders. Taking steps to try and ensure a similar environment for inZOI feels like a smart decision: It’s an easy way to broaden the game’s catalogue of content (I mean, what Sims player doesn’t have 100GB+ dedicated to pretty clothes and furniture?) without having to have a whole lot of direct involvement, and can do wonders for general longevity.
Partnering with someone well-versed in hosting mods seems like the easiest way to encourage folk to share their work, and I do have high hopes for inZOI to take off with a great community of creatives behind it.
That’s not the only bit of inZOI news the developer had locked and loaded, either. I have admittedly been on the fence about the game’s art style, but Krafton is releasing a little something that will give me a chance to look at things first-hand and hopefully change my mind. There’ll be a character creation demo releasing on August 21, offering over 250 customisation options which I am very excited about. It’s not sticking around for long, though, as it’s only available until August 25 at 9 PM PT and August 26 at 12 AM ET / 5 AM BST.