The Sims 4 challenger Life by You delayed again, again, and this time there's no new release date

Life by You, the upcoming life sim gunning for The Sims' crown, has had its Early Access launch delayed a third time.

An update from publisher Paradox Interactive's deputy CEO Mattias Lilja reads: "After much consideration, we regret to announce that we have decided to retract Life by You's Early Access release date, previously set for June 4th. This was not an easy decision, especially since we understand the anticipation and excitement that many players have for the game. However, we believe that additional development time is needed."

Unlike previous delays, Paradox isn't providing a new release date as it isn't certain it would be able to meet one just yet. It's also unclear exactly why Life by You is being delayed yet again. When it was delayed to June 4, Paradox said it had to "refine" the visuals, specifically the character models, and tweak things to "further improve gameplay." This time around, however, no specific reason was given.

"We will provide more information as soon as possible, until then we want to sincerely thank you for your continued support and patience," Lilja said.

The cozy games contingent here at GR+ has been keeping a razor-focused eye on Life by You since its March 2023 announcement thanks to its extensive customization systems, dialogue trees with real human language, and built-in modding client. The life sim is clearly taking direct aim at The Sims, but studio lead Rod Humble told Edge early this year that it was actually partially inspired by chess, curiously enough. 

Here are the best simulator games you can and should play today.