Paradox delays Sims-like Life By You again, but won't commit to a new release date
Says "additional development" is needed.
Paradox Interactive has delayed Life By You - the new Sims-like from its Paradox Tectonic studio - yet again, saying "additional development time is needed" and that it doesn't want to commit to a new release date it "cannot be certain to meet".
This marks the third delay for Life By You, which was announced last March amid promises of a fully open-world with no loading screens, "real language conversation", digital humans that could optionally be directly controlled by players, and plenty of customisation.
It initially also featured a rather bland art style that immediately drew criticism, leading to the game's first delay. Rather than release into PC early access last September, as had originally been the plan, Paradox announced it would be delaying Life by You into March this year so it could spruce up its visuals, its UI, and other elements.
In February, however, Paradox announced a second delay, this time to 4th June, to "ensure that it's as smooth and fun... as possible, and lays a strong foundation for building out [the game] during early access." But with just two weeks to go until launch, Paradox has now confirmed the game won't be making that release date either.
"After much consideration, we regret to announce that we have decided to retract Life by You’s early access release date, previously set for June 4th," the publisher wrote in its latest announcement. "This was not an easy decision, especially since we understand the anticipation and excitement that many players have for the game. However, we believe that additional development time is needed."
"While we would have preferred to commit to a new release window," Paradox continued, "we believe it is more prudent to hold off while we plan ahead, rather than committing to a new date that we cannot be certain to meet."
Life By You's succession of delays comes amid a seemingly turbulent time for Paradox. Earlier this year, the publisher announced then twice delayed a Prison Architect sequel, more recently confirming it had parted ways with its developer ahead of release. That news followed the troubled development of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the commercial failure of last year's The Lamplighters' League, and the disastrously premature launch of Cities: Skylines 2, which was recently forced to halt all DLC plans while its developer worked on addressing the "shortcomings of the game".
While Paradox has elected not to give Life by You a new release date following its most recent delay, the publisher says it'll share more "as soon as possible".