InZOi is definitely one of the better releases of today and is getting praises left and right. However, something is seriously lacking, as inZOI has lost almost 90% of its players, when compared to the release and its all-time peak.
When it was released, inZOI was all the rage. It had all the hallmarks of a modern The Sims game, but with way more detailed character creation and character interactions. Players started making all kinds of ZOIs, and when the game’s editor proved to be insufficient, they resorted to Mods. Now, inZOI has a considerable number of mods, especially when you take into account that the game is barely two weeks old, ranging from cosmetics and new features to more…spicy ones. However, for a two-week-old game, it suffered a massive drop in the player base. We all know that the player count gradually drops for every game right after the release, but the situation for inZOI is a bit more dire.
The Number of inZOI Players Drops by Almost 90% Since the Release
When inZOI was released on March 28, Steam recorded a respectable number of 87.337 concurrent players. Nothing insane, but still, not too shabby, especially considering it is an Early Access game. The gaming community was flooded with images and screenshots of people’s ZOIs, and it was the talk of the town. People were simply amazed by all the options the game offered and how lifelike it was. Its preliminary reviews were somewhere around 9/10 or 4/5. Unfortunately, it looks like that was not enough to keep the players invested.
On April 11, SteamDB reports that there are about 9.000 players actively playing inZOI. It is only slightly more than 10%, compared to the all-time high. It was expected that a considerable percentage of the players would drop out, but not that many.
As for the reasoning, it is pretty obvious: the game is still in Early Access, ie, it does not offer much besides some basic functions. You can check out everything the game has to offer pretty quickly, so it is no wonder the players turn to Mods to keep things fresh.
Player Reviews Offer Some Insights
One of the more prominent reviews on Steam says: “Sadly, for a life sim game, it feels a bit too shallow in the current state. I feel like the devs focused more on the graphics and aesthetics than on the gameplay.” Additionally, having these life-like graphics, inZOI is a bit demanding on your PC and may not run properly if your rig is not top-notch. Lastly, some folks have issues with the Terms of Service, since there is a part that says that the devs can revoke your access to the game if they have issues with how you are playing the game, ie, you do not own the game that you purchased. And naturally, that rubbed some players the wrong way.
In conclusion, we have to repeat that the game is still in Early Access, meaning that there is so much yet to come. The devs revealed a roadmap pretty early on, so we know what to look forward to. We don’t doubt that the number of players will rise once more content is added. Until then, we have to keep our expectations realistic.
