Alas, Life by You has indeed been canceled. Paradox announced on June 17 that the would-be Sims 4 rival is officially no longer in development, sad news for all who had been waiting patiently through a litany of delays over the past 12 months. The game had been deleyed again just weeks before its cancelation, but despite all of the warning signs that all was not well at Paradox Tectonic, it's still a bitter pill to swallow.
Wondering what went wrong? Here's everything we know about Life by You's unfortunate cancelation, from the official announcement to its fraught history of postponements.
Recent updates
This Life By You hub was updated on July 9, including the sad news that the game has been officially canceled.
Is Life by You canceled?
Yes, Life by You has been officially canceled. The game was scheduled to be released on June 4th before it was postponed to an undisclosed date as of June 17. Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja took to the Paradox Forum to break the news, saying: "Sadly, we’ve decided to cancel the release of our long-awaited life sim Life by You. This was an incredibly difficult call to make and is a clear failure on Paradox’s part to meet both our own and the community's expectations."
Life by You delays
Before its cancelation, Life By You had been delayed three times. The last announcement was made on the publisher's website by Paradox Interactive CEO Mattias Lilja, who expressed thanks for the continued support from the community. "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," Lilja wrote.
Unlike with past delays, a new Life By You target release window was not given by Paradox at this time. "While we would have preferred to commit to a new release window, we believe it is more prudent to hold off while we plan ahead, rather than committing to a new date that we cannot be certain to meet."
This delay came off the back of one earlier this year that saw Life by You pushed from a March 5 to June 4 release date. The game was intended to launch into Early Access last year on September 12, 2023, but it was delayed so that the development team could focus on new features and visual improvements.
Life by You trailer
The first Life by You announcement trailer (which you can watch above) that dropped during the showcase gave us our first proper look at the open-world setting and how we can control anyone at any time. It also shows off some of the interactions controllable humans can have along with insight into customization, character creation, and much more. A lot of the features do share similarities with The Sims; the more open feel and use of vehicles to get around (hello skateboards!) brings to mind The Sims 3.
