Life by You Early Access release date set for June 2024

Paradox Interactive’s life sim has a launch date

Paradox Interactive

Life by You will be released into Early Access for PC on June 4, 2024, Paradox Interactive stated.

Initially set for a launch in March 2024, the three-month delay “has given the team time to put the finishing touches on the visuals for its human characters and to improve gameplay further.” This wasn’t the first time the game’s Early Access start was pushed back, though, as it was originally planned to come out in September 2023.

Development of this highly adaptable life sim is led by Rod Humble, one of the minds behind The Sims and Second Life, at Paradox Tectonic, a studio built from the ground up to make this game a reality.

Envisioned as a more open and powerful competitor to The Sims, Life by You wants to stand out by giving players as much creative freedom as possible. It’s an open-world life sim that allows its players to customize pretty much every aspect of the world – they can create languages, dialog options, narrative events, or establish relationships between characters as they desire.

In Life by You, every household... / Paradox Interactive

“At the core of Life by You is the player community,” Rod Humble, general manager of Paradox Tectonic, explained in a press release. “We’ve created a sandbox where players can tell whatever story they want. From deeply personal, esoteric, or fan fiction, they can live life to the fullest – or break the rules as they see fit!”

...every object... / Paradox Interactive

Players can swap between characters in their world at any point, sticking with someone who’s caught their attention or jumping between people to see many different lifes in quick succession. Naturally, the game will feature robust tools to design and decorate buildings, a skill system that sees characters improve at activities they’re pursuing, and the ability to climb the career ladder.

...and every piece of the world is your's to customize. / Paradox Interactive

At Gamescom 2023, I followed a day in the life of a woman called Ronnie in Life by You and saw first-hand how deep these systems go – from contextual and adaptable dialog options over convenient tools like skipping eating animations to the fact that pretty much everything is on the table when it comes to customization. My biggest concern with the game back then was how more casual players would be able to get these experiences and use these systems, which seemed more like a tool kit at times than a game. That has not been answered just yet, but we’ll hopefully know more ahead of Life By You’s Early Access release on June 4, 2024, for PC.