Krafton, the publisher behind inZOI, has responded to discussions about its declining Steam concurrent player numbers, emphasizing that as a single-player title, sales figures are a more accurate measure of success.
The visually striking Sims rival debuted strongly on Steam, reaching an all-time peak of 87,377 concurrent players. Krafton revealed that inZOI achieved a remarkable milestone, selling one million copies within its first week—the fastest sales record for any title published by the South Korean gaming giant. The game topped Steam’s Global Top Sellers list by revenue just 40 minutes after launch, with CEO CH Kim describing inZOI as a franchise Krafton intends to nurture "for the long term."
However, inZOI's concurrent player count has steadily declined post-launch, recently hitting a 24-hour peak of just 1,477 players. As reported by TheGamer, the game has even fallen behind The Sims 3 in peak concurrent players on Steam—a title released 16 years ago.
When IGN reached out for comment, Krafton dismissed Steam concurrent player metrics as irrelevant for evaluating inZOI's performance, given its single-player nature.
"inZOI maintains consistent sales growth," a Krafton representative stated. "For a single-player experience, tracking sales spikes during major updates provides better insight than concurrent player counts on Steam."
The industry-wide scrutiny of Steam's concurrent player statistics has intensified recently, with multiple developers arguing these numbers fail to reflect a game's actual performance—especially for single-player experiences.
Earlier in 2024, Pocketpair's community lead John "Bucky" Buckley criticized the gaming community's fixation on "dead game" narratives and player counts as harmful. Similarly, Helldivers 2 production director Alex Bolle told IGN in April that Steam concurrents represent "just one of many performance metrics."
inZOI's Most Impressive—and Bizarre—Player Creations
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Regarding inZOI's reception, Steam reviews currently show a "Mostly Positive" rating overall, though recent feedback has been "Mixed." Krafton reminded IGN that as an Early Access title, inZOI remains unfinished:
"Early Access marks just the starting point for inZOI. Our team remains focused on collecting player feedback to enhance features, optimize performance, and deliver a deeper, more immersive experience. We appreciate our passionate community and will continue rolling out content updates in the coming months."
Krafton also confirmed inZOI's upcoming August launch on the Mac App Store and Steam. The macOS version, optimized for Apple Silicon devices, leverages MetalFX and Core ML technologies to match the Windows version's gameplay quality.
