NEWS  Games  June 18, 2024  Reading time: 2 Minute(s)

Max (RS editor)

Last year, Paradox Interactive unveiled its ambitious project, Life by You, a potential rival to EA’s The Sims franchise. The announcement was met with excitement, especially given the game's early access release plan. However, after a series of delays, the publisher has now announced that the project has been canceled.

“Sadly, we’ve decided to cancel the release of our long-awaited life sim Life by You”,  stated Paradox Interactive Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja in a forum post today. “This was an incredibly difficult call to make and is a clear failure on Paradox’s part to meet both our own and the community's expectations”.

 "LIFE BY YOU" ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER RELEASED IN 2023 

Originally slated for an early access release in September 2023, the game faced a six-month delay, pushing the release to 2024. Another delay announced in early 2024 set a new release date for June 4. Despite reassurances that this would be the final delay, May 2024 brought yet another postponement, this time without a new release window.

Lilja explained that while each delay showed "incremental improvements", the project was not progressing as needed. 

“Though a time extension was an option, once we took that pause to get a wider view of the game, it became clear to us that the road leading to a release that we felt confident about was far too long and uncertain”, Lilja elaborated. “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 cancellation marks a significant setback for Paradox Interactive. Lilja emphasized that such large-scale mistakes should not recur as the company seeks to improve its internal processes:

“Games are difficult to get right, and we’ll definitely make mistakes, which, as these things go, always become painfully apparent in hindsight.” 

Developed by Paradox's Tectonic studio and led by Rod Humble, a veteran of The Sims series, the future of the studio and Humble's role remain uncertain following the cancellation. 

 MEDIA CREDITS: PARADOX