Krafton, the publisher behind inZOI, has addressed growing concerns over the game’s declining Steam concurrent player count, claiming that sales numbers are a more reliable measure of success, especially for single-player games.
inZOI, a highly anticipated title competing with The Sims, made a huge splash on Steam upon its release, hitting an impressive peak of 87,377 concurrent players. In just one week, the game sold over a million copies, setting a new sales milestone for Krafton. The game even reached the top of Steam’s Global Top Sellers list just 40 minutes after launch. CEO CH Kim announced at the time that the company intended to turn inZOI into a long-term franchise.
However, since its release, inZOI’s concurrent player count has significantly dropped, with a recent peak of just 1,477 players within a 24-hour period. This has raised eyebrows as the game’s player base now trails behind the 16-year-old The Sims 3 on Steam’s platform.
When asked for comment, Krafton downplayed the importance of Steam’s concurrent player numbers, emphasizing that sales figures should be the true performance indicator for a single-player game. “inZOI continues to generate steady sales, and for a single-player title, the key metrics to focus on are the additional sales following major updates, not the concurrent player count on Steam,” said the publisher in a statement.
The debate over Steam concurrent player counts has grown in recent years, with developers like John “Bucky” Buckley of Palworld and Alex Bolle of Helldivers 2 expressing the view that player counts are just one metric among many. They argue that obsession with the “dead game” phenomenon is unhealthy for both the industry and the players.
As for inZOI, the game holds a ‘mostly positive’ rating from Steam user reviews, though recent reviews are more mixed. Since it is still in Early Access, Krafton emphasized that the game’s journey is far from over. “Early Access is just the beginning for inZOI, and we’re focused on gathering player feedback to enhance features, improve performance, and offer an even more immersive experience,” Krafton stated. “We are grateful for the dedicated community and look forward to sharing exciting updates in the months to come.”
In addition, Krafton revealed that inZOI will be available on the Mac App Store and Steam in August, with a version optimized for macOS and Apple Silicon. The game will also take advantage of Apple’s MetalFX and Core ML to provide a seamless experience similar to the Windows version.