Life By You aspires to become one of the most flexible and customizable life simulation games. Despite its extensive simulation, it already appears to capture the authentic lived-in atmosphere that The Sims 4 often lacks, thereby setting a high standard for EA’s upcoming projects. In a recent gameplay demonstration, Rod Humble, the general manager known for his previous role at EA’s The Sims Label during The Sims 2 and 3 era, showcases the progress of Paradox Interactive’s upcoming project, which is also behind Cities Skylines 2 and Crusader Kings 3.
Although we’ll have to wait until March 2024 for the early access release of Life By You, a 20-minute walkthrough with Humble reveals how much the game has evolved in the past three months since its last in-depth presentation.
The most remarkable aspect for me, as a long-time Sims fan, and echoed by other viewers on the YouTube video and the game’s Reddit page, is how Life By You manages to maintain a balance between its open-world town simulation and individual location activities. From a distance, you can observe individual characters going about their daily lives, and zooming in on specific locations reveals the activities taking place there.
While The Sims 3 remains my personal favorite in EA’s series due to its freedom to explore the town compared to The Sims 4, it often feels that the establishments are empty when you’re not present, and other NPCs in Sims games seem to revolve solely around your controlled characters rather than having their own schedules.
Life By You is still in its early development stage, but it seems to be addressing this issue effectively. With no loading screens and the entire town simulated simultaneously, you can explore the world and experience it as a living, breathing place. I might even find myself occasionally engrossed in some people-watching.
The Paradox Tectonic team behind Life By You is also tackling one of the most common concerns about the game: the appearance and animations of the characters. In this latest video, they mentioned, “We anticipate we’ll continue working on humans’ look and animations throughout our entire development process.” They are planning to make numerous improvements during the early access period, addressing animation issues and other issues that players encounter. They emphasize the importance of gradual progress because any changes to humans affect various aspects of the game, such as animations, building, and interactions.
This commitment to ongoing improvement is reassuring, as the personality of the characters adds significant depth to the game. One example is the current absence of vendors, as most purchases are made through menus, which feels somewhat out of place in the otherwise vibrant world they are creating. However, there’s ample time for such features to be added, and we’ll be closely monitoring Life By You’s development with great interest. If you’re interested in following its progress, you can wishlist it on Steam.
For those interested in hearing more from Humble, PCGamesN interviewed him at GDC 2023 about the creative freedom potential in Life By You. Alternatively, if you enjoy managing every aspect of digital lives, you can explore the best management games on PC.