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In Zoi We Trust...? This Might Just Be the Shake-Up the Life Sim Genre Needs

Author

Stephanie Liu
March 28, 2025

Welcome to “Siliconera Speaks Up,” our newsletter for the site! This’ll be a summary of the past week’s anime or gaming news, a little reminder of things to come, and our insight on what games you should pick up next. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Speak Up Sesh

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Siliconera Speaks Up! To start off this week’s news, I’d like to remind everyone that we have an ongoing survey for you to leave your opinions on the site. We’re curious to know what you’re like us to cover more of, or what suggestions you have to make this site (and this newsletter too) bigger and better than before. We’d really appreciate it if you could spare about five to ten minutes of your day and fill it out. Who knows? Maybe your suggestion will be reflected in the future!

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By the time you read this, InZOI will be out for early access! It feels like it’s been so long since anything came out that might remotely shake up Electronic Arts’ chokehold on the life sim market. As someone who loves the second and third Sims games, and even shelled out $100 real-life dollars on a Notion template specifically for keeping track of save files and families…yeah, you can say I’m a pretty big simmer. So I’m really excited to see what another company can do in the genre.

The one thing that might turn people off InZOI is the usage of GenAI in the game. For reference, you can use GenAI to create real-world items using photos you upload, or typing in prompts to generate custom textures. This means that you can have your Zoi wear whatever pattern you want, instead of having to hunt down the custom content or create it yourself in The Sims. Now, obviously and for a variety of reasons, some people might feel a little iffy about the usage of GenAI. Krafton did put out a statement in its Discord channel about half a year ago stating that it only trained the Krafton-developed AI models using “company-owned and copyright issue-free assets and data.” As well, it does not need to make communications with any external servers. That sounds fine and dandy for now, but some might consider it a slippery slope situation.

Aside from that concern, the game looks amazing, and thus requires a more juiced-up rig to run compared to The Sims 4. Krafton said in the past that InZOI isn’t a direct competitor to The Sims. But if it can satisfy all the different types of players—legacy players, builders, people who just want to see their virtual dolls suffer, people who just want to take pretty pictures, people who want to recreate their own lives or acquaintances in a digital dollhouse, and more—who boot up The Sims day after day…Well, regardless of Krafton’s intent, it may certainly well be the shake-up that the genre and Electronic Arts need.

Top 10 Stories From the Past Week

  1. New FFXIV Whiskey Will Be Based on Ancient Primals - You breaking out the Hydaelin or the Zodiark tonight?

  2. Sega Publishes Canon Sonic the Hedgehog Timeline - Really did not expect some of the games in that timeline to be there.

  3. NieR Automata 2B Japanese Doll Figure Costs Over $1,300 - The price is pretty crazy, but this is a 1/4 scale and the way the traditional Japanese fabric looks on this figure is really impressive.

  4. Hello Kitty Getting an Airport Named After Her - Oita Hello Kitty Airport will be in service from April to October 2025.

  5. Best JRPGs with Dating Sim Romance Options - Erik had the cutest events if you move him in.

  6. Palworld Poll Winner Zoe Will Become a Recruitable Character - The runner-ups (Chillet, Jetragon, and Anubis) will receive commemorative skins as well.

  7. Review: Atelier Yumia Is What I Wanted Tales of Arise to Be - It’s been getting some really good reviews on other outlets as well!

  8. Best 3D Turn-Based JRPGs on Switch - I love Three Houses, but it’s too bad the pre-timeskip segment is so long when it’s the exact same no matter which house you choose.

  9. Persona 5 Royal Characters Inspire Cocoa Flavors - Some people use cocoa as a secret ingredient in curry, so if you combine that with the curry sauce from Jade City Foods, you can create the Ultimate Persona 5 Curry…maybe.

  10. Pokemon Team Rocket Briefcase and Clothing Appears - The briefcase is unironically so cool, though.

Upcoming Releases

  • InZOI - PC (March 28, 2025)

  • The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered - PC (April 3, 2025)

  • Detective Dotson - PC (April 3, 2025)

  • Leila - PC (April 7, 2025)