Inzoi's getting multiplayer after South Korea's president told the director to hop to it: 'It almost felt like I was getting talked to by the company's CEO'
Krafton's life sim Inzoi released in early access this March, since when it's had a slightly troubled time of things: initial sales were impressive, and the game receives regular updates and hotfixes, but something about it hasn't quite landed with the vast audience that still prefers the slightly cosier and odder vibes of The Sims.
Hope springs eternal, however, and now director and producer Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim has announced that multiplayer functionality is in the works for Inzoi: which, given the popularity of a certain Sims multiplayer mod, may well attract some curious life simmers. What's most surprising, however, is that the suggestion of this functionality came from the very top.
In a new Gamer Galaxy interview on YouTube (first spotted by GR+), Kim says that the studio recently had a visit from South Korean president Lee Jae Myung. The country's leader went "straight to the Inzoi side" and started giving them all chapter-and-verse.
"He came in and suddenly sat down, and I had to explain the game to him all of a sudden," says Kim. "He ignored everything, sat down, watched the game, and then offered his opinion. It almost felt like I was getting talked to by the company's CEO."
It's certainly the kind of advice that one would find hard to refuse. Kim continues: "The president asked, 'Shouldn't we add multiplayer to the artificial world and then put ads on the billboards to boost sales?'"
Apparently he wouldn't let it go, and so Inzoi players can now expect to see a multiplayer element to the title: albeit there aren't yet any details or a timeframe. "We never officially announced it, but I think because of that day and probably this podcast, the news has started to leak out a bit," says Kim. "Inzoi is indeed developing a multiplayer aspect to the game."
We should probably caveat this: Kim says that the president's suggestion directly led to the decision to add multiplayer, which may well be true and justified by what he said. It may also be the case that multiplayer was always planned, and this is a funny anecdote to hang it on.
Either way reaction among the fanbase is split, with some feeling that Inzoi has much bigger issues to fix first. A recent player survey suggests that Inzoi's biggest problems right now are overwhelmingly the fact it's "lacking simulation content" and has painfully awkward social interactions.
Which would seem like important things to fix first. But it's also the case that Inzoi has one big direct competitor that doesn't offer a co-op experience without mods, and official multiplayer support would be a pretty good differentiator. Whatever the truth: the president requested it. You don't have much of a choice after that.
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