On August 20, the new contender in the life simulation genre, "inZOI," released its first DLC, "Island Vacation." Developed by Krafton, the Korean company behind "PUBG," the game faced controversy at launch for "insufficient content," "empty gameplay," and being a "half-finished product." Although the game established a gorgeous framework with ample room for expansion, it failed to fill it with enough interesting content, leading to overall player feedback of "promising future."
In response, the game officials proposed an ambitious update plan, announcing that during the"Early Access" period, several DLCs available for free would be released, and "Island Vacation" is the product of this plan. Taking the opportunity of the DLC launch, we interviewed the "inZOI" development team, asking many sharp questions about the game's current less-than-perfect state and the team's vision for the future. Fortunately, the "inZOI" team was quite candid, providing detailed answers to our questions.
If you are interested in the future development of this new life simulation game, the following content is definitely not to be missed.
Q:Why did the newDLC"Island Vacation" choose the theme of self-sufficient life on a tropical island? What was the inspiration for this theme?
A:The newly added Cahaya consists of three islands: the main island features farms, markets, shops, and other facilities, allowing players to achieve a self-sufficient lifestyle; the resort island offers marine activities and leisure experiences; and the uninhabited island lets players experience pure nature. Unlike existing cities, Cahayaintegrates"farming life in nature," rest, and escape from daily life. Our design inspiration,from player feedback—they hoped for a more natural, relaxed city centered around farming and nature. We want players to try a lifestyle completely different from urban life, while expanding"inZOI"core values ofthe concept of "diverse lifestyles." The development team, while creating and playingCahaya, we also deeply realized that even seemingly slow-paced farming life is not easier than real-world office work. However, we hope players can personally experience coexisting with nature, experiencing the slow flow of time, and the comfort unavailable in cities. Cahaya is"inZOI"'s first travel destination and the starting point for expanding more cities and life experiences in the future.
Q:I noticed thatDoes the addition of farming and fishing-related systems in "Island Vacation" mean that"inZOI"the cooking system in is no longer just a decoration, but allows using fresh ingredients obtained from your own farming to create higher-quality dishes, thereby improving the lives of Zois?
A:Yes. Players can harvest crops and catch fish themselves, using them as ingredients for cooking. Some dishes can only be made with ingredients obtained by the player themselves, making"making more delicious dishes with ingredients you've grown and raised yourself" becomes an important experience."Island Vacation" will also add exclusive recipes and food. Although the cooking system still has shortcomings, we will continue to expand and improve it based on feedback.
Q:The update preview mentioned thatStandard work has been completely removed from Cahaya Island, so how will players obtain resources like currency to build and decorate their homes? Will the self-sufficient lifestyle bring additional inconvenience to players?
A:CahayaThere are no traditional commuting jobs, but players can stillsymbolically working in "rabbit hole" jobs. The main source of income is obtaining resources through farming, gathering, and fishing, processing them, and selling them to collection points or market stalls. Additionally, this update introduces realistic economic systems such as loans and insurance, enriching income sources and reducing the limitations of self-sufficiency.
Q:have"inZOI"inThe passage of "time" is quite fast—it's likely that before we fully experience the feeling of relaxing in Cahay, the charactershave aged due to spending long periods during these holidays. Will the development team consider further adjusting the time flow in the game to address the issue of rapid aging?
A:Since the initial release, we have been receiving feedback regarding the pace of time.June update, we adjusted age balance: extending youth, shortening middle and old age, and expanding infancy and adolescence. Players can also adjust day length, aging speed, or even completely disable aging in settings. We will continue to, optimizing the experience of time passing.
Q:ThisThe new crafting system added in "Island Vacation" sounds promising. How does it compare to previous freelance activities like painting and writing?, are there any differences in gameplay?
A:The crafting system has similarities to previous freelance activities like painting and writing, but also has distinct differences. Compared to previous freelancing that focused more on the profession itself, the crafting system emphasizes"collecting- Production -sell" a complete resource cycle and economic gameplay. Players can use raw stones and materials obtained through farming, gathering, and mining to craft jewelry and crafts. The quality of finished products depends on craftsmanship value, material types, and quality. Goods can be sold at grocery stores or market stalls, with rare and high-quality works fetching higher prices. Grocery stores will also have daily fluctuating"inZOI"pricing system, allowing players to make strategic choices when selling.
Q:Currently, one of the biggest complaints from players is that there is nothing to do in the game, lacking positive feedback. Apart from character creation and buildingoutside, there are no sources of fun. In the newDLC "Island Vacation," how will the development teamaddress these issues?
A:While we are preparing various new updates, we are also dedicating significant effort to improving the completeness of the base simulation.
Currently, we believe the most important areas for improvement are threefold:
First, diversity of interactions. We focused on increasing the number of scenarios where Zois interact more richly and naturally with their surroundings or other Zois. We will continue to add and refine these interactions to make them more colorful and nuanced than they are now.
Secondly, giving Zois personality. Our core goal is to ensure that Zois are no longer just characters acting on commands, but have their own distinct personalities and emotions, reacting and acting like humans. This is one of our most important directions, and we hope players will pay attention to these changes in the future.
Thirdly, filling the empty city spaces. Currently,, "inZOI"'s cities give an impression that the external spaces are somewhat empty. To address this, we are continuously adding and improving content while considering performance optimization. Looking at the entire gaming industry, there are few precedents for filling every plot within a city—it's not easy, but we will continue to research how to provide players with a stronger sense of immersion and fun in the city.
Additionally, through communication with players, we are gradually increasing interactive plots within the city, making houses not just background scenery but truly interactive spaces; simultaneously, we are expanding interactive functions so that crowds on the streets can connect with the storyline.
These three improvements cannot be fully realized in a short time, but we plan to perfect them step by step over time. We hope everyone will witness with us, "inZOI"gradually becoming a truly living, breathing world.
Q:The update content for "Island Vacation" appears in the form of a new map, which is certainly good—but can we expect large-scale updates to existing maps? After all, the original map scale is somewhat small, and facilities are very lacking. I couldn't even find a proper gym in the default city map. Will we see gradual expansions of existing maps in future updates?
A:Since release, we have received various kinds of feedback, some of which were expected. But the most unexpected,One of the most impressive pieces of feedback we received was the desire to"request to populate plots within the city."
In the past, we mainly addressedfeedback like "nothing to do" and "insufficient content," filling in new plots piece by piece and adding interactive content. However, what players truly want is for the spaces between streets to also be full of life, making the entire city present a living atmosphere—in other words, creating a sense of immersion where all spaces can become part of the game stage.
This was a part we previously overlooked, which gave us significant inspiration. To address this issue as soon as possible, in the Augustmajor update, we focused on addingmore than 25 types of new content plots, and significantly expanded aspects such as the crowd system, interactive spaces, transportation, and events.. In the future, we will continue to add more content to the city.
Just as Lego needs various types of bricks to create richer combinations, we believe that"inZOI"also requires continuous expansion of the basic materials and elements that make up the game. In the long run, these accumulating diverse elements will not only be actively applied to"inZOI"original cities and will play a role in futureDLC and new cities, bringing more emergent gameplay experiences.
We believe that"inZOI"continue to improve and progress in the future.
Q:Regarding"inZOI"'s reward points system. In the initial version, this system was basically only useful for exchanging donuts—honestly, it wasn't very attractive for improving the Zois' lives. In the future, has the development team considered adding more interesting options to the points shop?
A:You are probably referring to"Meow Coins". After this update, items collected through farming, fishing, and mining will grant extra Meow Coins if they are registered in the "Collection Book".accumulates to a certainquantity, you will receive extra Meow Coin rewards. Additionally, completingYou can also earn Meow Coins when achieving goals such as "ambition" or "expectations."
However, we also feel that currently, apart from exchanging for donuts, the uses for Meow Coins are indeed quite limited, which we regret. Next, we will continue to increase the variety and effects of donut-type items, and actively consider more interesting uses and special functions for Meow Coins. Our goal is to give players more motivation and sense of achievement in the points system.
Q:"inZOI"'s profession system is also a point frequently criticized by players. "Rabbit hole" professions are basically no different from each other, and there are few random events requiring player decisions during work. For "non-rabbit hole" professions, such as firefighters,also lacks interesting work processes like real firefighting missions—As for freelance, it is merely a superficial change. We want to know how the development team plans to address these pain points in the future?
A:The profession system is one of the cores of life simulation games, and it is also the area we believe needs urgent improvement. Currently, "inZOI"professions consist ofconsists of "rabbit hole" jobs and a few controllable professions, but lacks professional differentiation and immersive actual work experience. We are very aware of this.
In future major updates, we will refine specific professions so they can be directly controlled by players, incorporating more realistic professional experiences. Players will be able to earn income based on work performance and experience workplace events, with each profession having unique stories and event triggers.
We plan to initially launch1to 2 such professions, and gradually expand the variety and depth of professions after collecting player feedback. Our goal is not just to give players a professional role, but to create"inZOI"unique professional life experiences.
Q:Currently,"inZOI"'s skills don't have much effect. A character with max-level programming and alevel 1 programming character, you won't feel much difference in the same career path. How does the development team plan to solve this problem in the future?
A:This "Island Vacation", we introduced6 new abilities that better reflect level differences than before. For example, higher gathering ability makes using tools more efficient, making mining or gathering easier; with high fishing ability, players can choose more bait and unlock advanced techniques like continuous fishing; higher craftsmanship levels allowZoi can craft more diverse tools and gems, which can be used in various production activities such as farming, fishing, and mining to increase output. With improved swimming ability, the risk of drowning decreases, and you can swim farther and longer in the sea, thereby enhancing exploration freedom.
However, we also realize that these abilities currently have limited impact on professions or specific gameplay. In the future, we will gradually expand the system so that ability values can more directly reflect gameplay and results, and enhance the fun and differentiation of each skill in various ways, allowing players to feel the differences more obviously.
Q:"inZOI"inNPC,will often visit players' properties or invite players to go out together, but currently we seem unable to visit mostvisit NPCs' homes to observe their daily lives—this also gives the NPCs in the game a feeling of being "clones." In the future, will the development team consider making changes in this area to make the NPCs in the game feel more like living people?
A:Due to optimization issues, the number of families that can truly own residential plots and live in the city is limited, so NPCs's lives and emotions may not appear vivid enough, and we are well aware of this. In theIn the August update, we focused on improvingZoi's behavioral logic, allowing them to build deeper relationships and act based on their personality, emotions, values, and preferences, making them look more like real people.
Ordinary NPCsTheir behavior has also improved; they now act based on their own settings rather than just mechanically walking around the streets. We have also added crowds with specific contexts and performances throughout the city.NPCs, making their presence more meaningful.
This is just the beginning—in the future, we will make the NPCs roaming the city no longer uniform, but let them look like Zois with different situations and emotions. Our goal is to make every Zoi in the city feel like a real person living their life, making the entire city a more vibrant space.
Q:After opening up theAfter the release of the Modkit, many player-made mods have emerged across various platforms. Which one left the deepest impression on the development team? The scripting mod feature with higher potential, and when will it be announced?
A:I am also a player who enjoys and personally creates Modsplayers, so seeing the various mods made by players makes me both surprised and happy. One of the most popular mods allows editing city plots, which touched us greatly, so in theIn the August update, we added more editable plots to the city.
Although official hairstyle support is not yet available mods, but players have already created very beautiful hairstyles. Every time I see such works, I and the character art team feel shocked and delighted. Our team often shares and appreciates excellent player creations together.
In the future, we willcontinuous upgrades in October and DecemberMod features, with the final plan to open script mod support by the end of this year, allowing players to edit almost"inZOI"all elements of the game. We will continuously improve the Mod environment so that more players can enjoy the fun of creation.
Q:Even though the game still has many issues, players believe that"inZOI"is a game full of potential with a promising future—Does the development team have anything to say to the players who have been supporting the game?
A:We sincerely thank all those who love"inZOI". For our development team,"inZOI"was a brand-new challenge. We bravely ventured into an unfamiliar game genre, experiencing many trials and errors along the way. Being able to launch in Early Access in such a short time was entirely due to your support and feedback.
Every compliment, criticism, and suggestion you leave is an invaluable motivation for our growth. Although the game still has many shortcomings and areas for improvement, we always regard"the process of completing the game together with players", as our most important value.
In the future, we will continue to listen to your voices and let"inZOI"As a life simulation game, we hope it will be loved for a long time and continue to evolve. We hope everyone will continue to pay attention, participate, and warmly support us. Thank you!