Paradox Interactive is hoping for some better luck with the launch of one of its most ambitious in-house games yet. Today, the game developer and publisher reconfirmed its previously announced date that its people simulator game Life By You will be released as an Early Access game on June 4, via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
The game is being developed by Paradox Tectonic and its studio head is Rod Humble, who previously led development on The Sims from Electronic Arts. Paradox is trying to take some of the huge audience for The Sims with Life By You.
Paradox is emphasizing that the player will have nearly total control over the open world that is at the heart of Life by You. It states:
Players create their households, build their homes, and tell life’s many stories. With natural language conversation and the ability to switch from third-person to direct control gameplay, players will connect with their characters on an emotional level. The game will come with deep Creator and Editor tools like Character Creator, Object Designer, Language Trees, and more, and all are available to players so they can MOD and adapt the game to fit their story.
The game was officially announced in March 2023 with an Early Access launch planned for September 2023. However, Paradox then delayed the game"s launch to March 2024. and earlier this year delayed the game yet again by three months for its now final June 4 date. Paradox has not yet announced a new price for the game.
Paradox has had some rough times in the last several months when it comes to game launches. The highly anticipated city sim game Cities: Skylines II from developer Colossal Order suffered from major performance issues when the PC version launched in October. More recently, refunds were issued to players who bought the game"s first paid DLC pack, and Paradox and Colossal Order have pledged to get the base game up to speed before launching any more expansions.
Paradox also decided to part ways with developer Harebrained Schemes in October, after its game The Lamplighters League turned into a sales disappointment.