LogIn"It is now clear that the game will not be able to meet our expectations."
Paradox Interactive's much-anticipated life simulation game, Life by You, has been canceled just few weeks after the announcement of an indefinite release delay.
Officially announced in March 2023, the title was designed to be one of the most moddable and open life-simulation games, holding strong expectations from the developer. However, the development process has been fraught with challenges, resulting in multiple delays in the release date. Mattias Lilja, Deputy CEO of Paradox Interactive, stated in his statement:
"Life by You has been in the works for a long time and we’ve been very excited about the promise and the potential of this game. Our hope was always that it would be able to leave a mark in this exciting and new genre for us. That’s why we’ve opted to delay it twice, to give the studio and the game a fair shot at realizing the potential we saw. For each delay we made, we've seen incremental improvements, which in hindsight may well have led us to focus on details rather than the whole picture."
A few weeks ago, the developer decided to postpone the early access launch to re-evaluate the project. The result is that they found the game was "lacking in some key areas."
"Though extending the timeline was an option, once we stepped back for a broader view, it became clear that the path to a release that we could confidently back was too long and uncertain. While Life by You had many strengths and a devoted team behind it, if we reach a point where we believe more time won't bring us to a satisfactory version, we think it's best to halt."
Thus, it appears that despite its uniqueness, creativity, and potential to excel in the genre, Life by You did not reach a point of readiness that filled the confidence in the developer and publisher, thus leading to its cancellation. Mattias concluded his statement by acknowledging:
"Game development is difficult, and mistakes are inevitable, often becoming painfully apparent in retrospect, yet they should never reach this magnitude."
You can also check the Press Release here about the cancelation. Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.