Today Paradox Tectonic announced a second delay for the early access release of its upcoming life simulator Life by You.
The game was originally supposed to start its early access phase on Steam on September 12, 2023, but it was delayed to March 5, 2024. Now the date has been moved again to June 4, 2024, nearly 9 months after the original date.
The announcement was made with a video message by Paradox Tectonic general manager Rod Humble, whom you may know for his work on The Sims franchise and Second Life.
Humble mentions that the additional time in the oven will be used to fix bugs, character art (which will also be improved during early access), character idles and proportions, and facial animations, as the developers want to make the faces look more lively.
Additional issues that will be addressed are clothes clipping, animation transitions, building tools and assets, on top of additional gameplay refinements. Ultimately, the developers aim to "focus on a quality player experience and a fun game right from the start of early access."
Pre-orders will be refunded (again) and the team will continue to post videos showing the progress made on the game. You can watch Humble's video message below.
If you're unfamiliar with Rod Humble, he worked at Electronic Arts over a decade ago where he ultimately became head of the whole The Sims label with the fan-favorite The Sims 3 launching under his tenure. After that, he left for Linden Lab, where he worked on Second Life.
If you'd like to read more about Life By You, you can read my preview from Gamescom 2023. When I saw it, it was certainly clear that the game needed more work, but I found it had promise. Considering that The Sims franchise certainly seems to need some solid competition, I'm cheering for the folks at Paradox Tectonic.
