Summary
- Life simulation title
Life by You
has officially been canceled. - Recent delays hinted at problems with the project’s progress and readiness for release.
- Paradox Interactive has a recent history of troubled launches and game delays.
The Sims 4 was finally set to get some serious competition with Life by You, but the sudden cancelation of the upcoming game dashes all hopes for Life by You to offer its own engaging experience. Developed by Paradox Tectonic to be published by Paradox Interactive, Life by You promised a flexible take on the formula with extensive support for mods. The Sims series has been at the forefront of the life simulation genre for over two decades, and a competitor on the scale of Life by You was an attractive prospect.
As reported by Polygon, the cancelation of Life by You was announced by Paradox Interactive Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja on the official Paradox Forum. Lilja explains that “the road leading to a releasethat [Paradox] felt confident about was far too long and uncertain.” Although Lilja acknowledges that the game had some strong points, he states that “incremental improvements” weren’t ultimately getting the game toward a point where the full picture would be satisfying.

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Life By You’s Cancelation Follows Long-Term Troubles
Recent Delays & Paradox Struggles Were Warning Signs
The news of Life by You‘s cancelation might come as a shock due to the ambition of the project, but it isn’t the first sign that development wasn’t progressing in the way it needed to be. The early access release date previously shifted from September 2023 to March and then June, with an indefinite delay ultimately being announced in May. It’s not the only Paradox title currently undergoing delays — Prison Architect 2 has had similar shifts to its schedule — but that game nonetheless seems closer to completion than Life by You ever has.
Paradox troubles aren’t restricted to games that haven’t released yet, with the rough launch of Cities: Skylines 2 likely contributing to concerns about titles that aren’t ready to cross the finish line. The publisher also jettisoned The Lamplighters League studio Harebrained Schemes in 2023 after poor launch sales of the tactics title, although the game still met a reasonably strong critical reception. Paradox’s monetization model heavily relies on extensive DLC, which simply won’t work out if games don’t have the popularity or positive reception to support add-ons.

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The dominance that The Sims 4 enjoys in the life simulation genre has a lot to do with how difficult it is to develop competitors of attractive complexity, and Life by You always seemed like it might be promising more than it could deliver. It’s still a shame that the amount of work put into the game is being thrown completely out the window, and it’s likely a major disappointment for fans of the genre. Other alternatives like Paralives and InZOI remain on the horizon, but the cancelation of Life by You does leave The Sims 4 with one less interesting alternative.
Source: Polygon, Paradox Forum

Life By You
Life By You is a life simulation game from the developers at Paradox Tectonic. Promising to be a massive evolution of major life management simulators, Life By You lets players take control of the lives of the people they set in a world built entirely by the player. Open-ended and completely moddable, the game allows players to create an entire world filled with unique stories however they see fit.
- Developer(s)
- Paradox Tectonic
- Publisher(s)
- Paradox Interactive
- Genre(s)
- Life Simulation