Paradox cancels The Sims-like Life by You

Paradox Interactive’s Sims-like, Life by You, has officially been canceled after a litany of delays, including one that was labeled as “indefinite.” The game was set as the debut of Paradox Tectonic, which was spearheaded by former The Sims head, Rod Humble.

As revealed by Paradox’s deputy CEO Mattias Lilja on the company forum, he revealed that after its recent indefinite delay, it was realized to get to the level of confidence to release game with all the features it wants would be too lengthy and “uncertain.” As such, the hard decision was made to can the game altogether without even giving fans a chance to try it out and gauge how the community would feel about it.

“A few weeks back, we decided to hold off on an Early Access release in order to re-evaluate Life by You, as we still felt that the game was lacking in some key areas. 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.

“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.”

Initially, the game was slated for a September 2023 Early Access period before getting delayed into March 2024 and then evidently was stopped again a few weeks back for an indefinite delay. This being in spite of it seemingly being in a pretty playable state.

It does seem Paradox is hurting when it comes to its recent games, with the decision to refund purchasers of the first DLC of Cities Skylines 2 after the content is now slated to release for free due to the unsatisfying state the game launched in. Additionally, its nine-year partnership with Double Eleven ended, leaving the original developer — since 2019 — out of Prison Architect 2’s development and into the hands of Kokku.

At this point, it isn’t clear what the future is for Paradox Tectonic, whether it will begin work on another game, become a support studio, or perhaps even face the unfortunate closure that has been happening to many studios as of late.