Paradox Tectonic, the studio in charge of the canceled Life by You, has been shut down by its holding company, Paradox Interactive. Life by You had been in the works for almost half a decade until Paradox Interactive decided to cease its development completely.

Life by You was a highly anticipated life simulation game deemed as the first true rival to The Sims. The title was first announced in March 2019 and was first scheduled to be released in September 2023. The game's launch was postponed three times, with no new release date confirmed after the third delay. Finally, on June 17, Paradox Interactive confirmed the cancellation of Life by You.

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Now, Paradox Interactive has decided to shut down Paradox Tectonic, its wholly-owned California-based studio in charge of Life by You. Tectonic employed 24 people and Life by You was meant to be the studio's debut. "This is difficult and drastic news for our colleagues at Tectonic, who’ve worked hard on Life by You’s Early Access release," said Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive. "Sadly, with cancellation of their sole project we have to take the tough decision to close down the studio. We are deeply grateful for their hard work in trying to take Paradox into a new genre".

Life by You Developer Paradox Tectonic Shuts Down

Life by You planned on using real-world languages and aimed to simulate every second of characters' lives, which prompted the game to be dubbed as the first worthy rival to EA's The Sims. The game was ambitious and intended to revolutionize the life simulation genre. Life by You's development was also led by Rod Humble, former EA EVP who previously acted as head of The Sims before leaving in 2010. However, following various reviews, Paradox Interactive decided that the game failed to meet expectations and ultimately ceased its development after almost half a decade in the works.

The closing of Paradox Tectonic comes not long after Paradox Interactive issued refunds for their Cities: Skylines 2 DLC after the expansion faced a very negative response from players. Had its launch been successful, Life by You could have meant redemption for the company.

In general, the company has taken several hits for months now. In October 2023, Paradox published The Lamplighters League, a day one Xbox Game Pass title, only to label it a "big disappointment" after release. Two of Paradox's upcoming games, the jail sim Prison Architect 2 and the RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, have also experienced many delays. Prison Architect 2 eventually got a release date of September 3 while the latter is scheduled to launch in the fall. Still, fans of the jail sim are worried that Prison Architect 2 may not live up to its predecessor, which poses a challenge for Paradox.

Paradox Interactive

Date Founded

2004-00-00

Headquarters

Stockholm, Sweden

Parent Company

Tencent

Known For

Age of Wonders , Pillars of Eternity