inZOI developers have taken swift action to address a disturbing bug that allowed players to run over children in the game, which has now been rectified in their latest patch. This shocking feature came to light during the Early Access phase of inZOI, where a player showcased a video on the game's subreddit on March 28. The footage demonstrated a child being run over by a car, resulting in the child being flung a considerable distance and tragically passing away due to the impact.
While the developers had previously mentioned during the inZOI Online Showcase that there would be various ways to kill off Zois, including vehicular accidents, it was never intended for these scenarios to involve children. In response to this unintended bug, a Krafton spokesperson issued a statement to Eurogamer on March 28, emphasizing that such depictions were highly inappropriate and did not align with the game's values. The statement assured that the issue had been fixed in the latest patch and that the team was taking steps to strengthen their internal review processes to prevent future occurrences. This move is particularly important as inZOI holds an ESRB rating of T for Teen, and retaining such a feature could lead to a more stringent age rating.
inZOI Developers Aim to Strengthen Internal Review Processes in the Future
As part of their commitment to improving the game's quality and appropriateness, the inZOI team is enhancing their internal review processes. This initiative follows the disturbing incident and aims to ensure that future content aligns with the game's intended audience and values.
inZOI Director Admits Realistic Style Makes It Hard for Goofing Around In-Game
inZOI has received a "Very Positive" review rating on Steam, largely due to its detailed and high-quality graphics. However, inZOI's Game Director Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim shared with PCGamesN on March 31 that the game's hyper-realistic approach presents challenges. Kjun explained, "This was something we thought about a lot. With such realistic graphics, we constantly questioned how far we should take that realism. At times, we wanted to incorporate comical or lighthearted elements, but they didn’t quite fit with the grounded visuals, which was a bit disappointing sometimes."
Kjun has expressed admiration for The Sims 4, highlighting its charming goofiness as a defining feature. However, inZOI's realistic style makes it difficult to integrate similar lighthearted elements. Despite these challenges, Kjun remains confident in the game's direction, stating, "We believe this level of immersive graphics will resonate with players and, throughout development, we’ve felt both proud and excited to bring this world to life."
While inZOI surpasses The Sims 4 in terms of detail and quality, the developers are still exploring the game's identity to establish it as a strong competitor in the life-simulation genre. For further insights into inZOI's Early Access release, be sure to check out our detailed article below!
