Paradox Interactive's Life by You is taking the opposite approach to many of the gaming industry's modern fads, as the developer has revealed the game is going to be totally offline and completely customizable. A veritable competitor to Electronic Arts' The Sims franchise, this newcomer to the genre promises to provide a stable, yet flexible gaming platform for those who want something new and exciting.
Announced as part of the recent Paradox Announcement Show alongside Cities: Skylines 2 and Knights of Pen and Paper 3, Life by You aims to empower the player with more control than one might've expected. In an attempt to illustrate what makes this particular Sims competitor such a big deal, one of the lead developers has explained what the game will be all about.
Rock Paper Shotgun spoke with Paradox Tectonic's general manager Rod Humble at GDC 2023, which revealed a whole slew of important information about the game. According to Humble, Life by You is being built from the ground up to last for as long as possible "because [the developers] want players to be able to lean on this game." Humble also explained that Life by You will be entirely offline and will fully support modding and community creations from the very start. It's important to Paradox Tectonic that the studio doesn't invalidate the players' experience, Humble claimed, and giving them full control over their game files is a crucial aspect of this approach.
Life by You could improve upon The Sims in many different ways, of course, but it's worth highlighting that the game may launch in a somewhat rough state. Specifically, it's due to come out as an Early Access project that will improve as time goes on. Considering Humble's commentary, however, this approach could work wonders for the game, especially since Paradox is well known for its long post-launch content plans and comprehensive modding support.
Older fans of The Sims franchise may remember that Paradox Tectonic's Rod Humble worked on The Sims 2 back in the day, which is bound to be felt in Life by You's Sims vibes. If the developer successfully captures that same atmosphere and appeal, with the added bonus of fully supporting community content and modding, the game could quickly grow to become a serious competitor to EA's gargantuan franchise.
Indeed, most fans agree that The Sims 5 needs to be ambitious to properly enamor its audiences. It's all but certain that Paradox will end up biting off a chunk of The Sims player base in due time, with the only remaining questions being just how big of a chunk that might be and how quickly Life by You might evolve into a complete experience, rather than an Early Access experiment.
Life by You is in development for PC and enters Steam Early Access on September 12.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun