Publisher Krafton has responded to discussions regarding the significant drop in inZOI's concurrent player numbers on Steam, emphasizing that for a single-player title, sales figures are a more meaningful measure of success.
The visually striking competitor to The Sims debuted strongly on Steam, achieving an all-time peak concurrent player count of 87,377. Krafton announced that inZOI sold an impressive one million copies within its first week, marking the fastest sales milestone ever for a game published by the South Korean giant. It climbed to the number one spot on Steam's Global Top Sellers list (by revenue) just 40 minutes after launch. At the time, CEO CH Kim stated that Krafton intended to cultivate the game as a "long-term franchise IP."
However, inZOI's concurrent player count on Steam has declined steadily since its launch, with a recent 24-hour peak of only 1,477. As reported by TheGamer this week, inZOI's peak concurrent player count has even fallen below that of the 16-year-old title The Sims 3 on Valve's platform.
When IGN reached out for comment, Krafton downplayed the relevance of Steam's peak concurrent player figures as a success metric, given the game's single-player nature.
"inZOI continues to see steady sales, and as a single-player experience, it is more appropriate to evaluate its performance based on sales figures at major update milestones rather than concurrent player counts on Steam," a Krafton representative stated.
The industry's focus on Steam concurrent player numbers has become a prominent topic in recent years. Many developers and publishers argue that this metric alone does not fully capture a game's performance, especially for single-player titles.
In 2024, John 'Bucky' Buckley, community lead for Palworld developer Pocketpair, called the gaming community's obsession with 'dead games' and player counts unhealthy for the industry. Similarly, in April of this year, Helldivers 2 production director Alex Bolle told IGN that Steam concurrents are merely "one metric among many."
inZOI's Best and Most Cursed Creations
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As for inZOI, Steam user reviews—which significantly impact a game's visibility on the platform—remain 'Mostly Positive' overall, though recent reviews are categorized as 'Mixed.' The game is currently in Early Access, a point Krafton highlighted in its statement to IGN.
"Early Access is just the beginning of inZOI's journey, and in many ways, our work is just starting. During this phase, the team's top priority is collecting player feedback and continuing development with more enhanced features, improved performance, and a deeply immersive experience. We are grateful to our dedicated community and look forward to sharing new content updates in the coming months," the statement read.
In related news, Krafton announced that inZOI is coming to the Mac App Store and Steam in August. The Mac version is optimized for the latest macOS on Apple Silicon and leverages Apple's MetalFX and Core ML technologies to deliver a gameplay experience on par with the Windows version.
