Paradox Interactive officially cancels its Sims-like game Life by You

Paradox Interactive has officially canceled its Sims-like life simulation game, Life by You.

The announcement comes from Paradox deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, who said that the decision to cancel its long-awaited game was “an incredibly difficult call to make and is a clear failure on Paradox’s part to meet both our own and the community’s expectations.”

Life by You was first announced in May 2023 and an early access release was planned to release in September the same year. The launch was later delayed to May 2024, before Paradox announced in February that it had delayed it once again to June 4.

With only two weeks before release, however, the developer delayed it once again but didn’t provide a release date.

Lilja explained in the announcement post that each delay Paradox made allowed the team to see “incremental improvements” but in hindsight, “may well have led us to focus on details rather than the whole picture.

“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,” the CEO continued. “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 not to say the game has not shown any promising qualities; Life by You had a number of strengths and the hard work of a dedicated team that went into realizing them. However, when we come to a point where we believe that more time will not get us close enough to a version we would be satisfied with, then we believe it is better to stop. 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.”

Lilja didn’t offer any details on the problems the team faced, but added that “games are difficult to make” and there’s no guarantee the team won’t find itself in this position again.

“We have to take a long and hard look at what led us here and see what changes we have to make to become better,” Lilja said. “In the end, our mission remains the same, and we’ll continue to take whatever steps we need to do just that.”