[08.14.26] Focusing on the Little Things (Updated)

[Kjun]

Hello everyone, it’s great to see you again. I hope you’ve all had a good week.

First, I have some slightly disappointing news to share. The August update has been delayed a little, and we are now planning to release it in early September. I’m sorry that we couldn’t bring it to you sooner. I’ll keep running as hard as I can to deliver it to all of you.

For this update, rather than adding new content, we’ve been focusing on making the fundamental aspects of everyday life and behavior in inZOI feel more natural. While this won’t be a particularly large update, a lot of development work has gone into strengthening the foundations of our life simulation systems for the future.

Today, I’d like to introduce one of those systems and hear what you think about it.

Previously, when a Zoi visited somewhere like a burger restaurant, they would remain there for a set amount of time. However, instead of ordering and eating during that time, they might talk to other Zois, look at nearby objects, or perform other actions unrelated to the reason they visited in the first place.

To improve this, we’ve developed two new systems (for these, please refer to the video on the top comment).

The first is a system that allows us to define actions that Zois should prioritize when they enter a particular location.

The second is an interaction permission system that allows us to specify who can use each object.

For example, at a burger restaurant, we can have a Zoi order from a kiosk, wait in a customer seat, receive and eat their food, and then naturally return home once their visit is complete. Employees will no longer sit in seats intended for customers.

However, if you have previously customized regions or spaces yourself, you may need to register some of this newly added information again. The amount of data itself is not large, but if you have customized many different areas, it could mean a little additional work. We are also preparing a way to apply the new system correctly through a reset.

I wanted to share this with you before applying the system to the development build so that we can hear your thoughts first.

If you are against this change, we are prepared to stop and reconsider it.

I believe that putting these small but fundamental systems in place one by one is essential if we want Zois to feel less like characters who simply spend time at a location, and more like people who act and live according to their own purposes.

Lastly, when I look up at the sky on my way home from work these days, the stars seem especially bright. The evenings are starting to bring a little cooler breeze as well, and it makes me feel that summer really is beginning to pass.

The long, hot summer is gradually coming to an end.

Thank you for spending another week with inZOI. Since the update is arriving a little later than planned, we’ll work hard to make sure we can show you something even better when it arrives.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you again next week.

Kjun

---

Kjun’s Reply to Your Comments

Hello everyone.
Today, I’d like to talk about Active Mode.

This is the feature we showed back in June, where you could use a frying pan to affect another Zoi. Active Mode isn’t intended to be a feature focused simply on violence. It is content we’ve been preparing to offer experiences that you normally wouldn’t expect from the traditional life simulation genre.

One of the things we thought about most was whether this kind of action really belongs in inZOI. What we generally expect from this genre is to watch Zois live their lives like real people, behaving according to their temperament and traits. Because of that, we were concerned that interactions like these might disrupt the overall atmosphere of the game.

At the same time, some members of the development team felt that giving players a wider range of actions would allow for more diverse stories and greater freedom to express the situations they want to create. So we’ve decided to introduce it cautiously.

We’ve also taken steps to prevent it from disrupting the game’s atmosphere too much or escalating excessively into violence. There is still a lot of work to be done, including conditions for ending fights and connections with the police system, and we plan to continue improving these areas.

We haven’t been able to polish every aspect perfectly this time either, but rather than keeping it from you until everything is complete, we’d like to cautiously introduce it as an Experimental Feature. We hope you’ll try it yourselves first, share your feedback with us, and help us improve it from there.

Next, I’d like to talk about restaurants.
While preparing the business content, we wanted to include a wider variety of businesses, but managing Zois through a specific sequence of actions proved extremely difficult. Initially, we planned businesses around activities that took longer to complete, but there were more challenges to solve than we expected.

Cooking was particularly difficult because each individual interaction takes quite a long time. We wanted running a business to feel lively, with many customers coming and going, but achieving that was not easy.

After documenting these issues one by one and working through them over time, we’re finally ready to show you what we’ve been preparing.

In the new restaurant system, you’ll be able to see groups of customers visit and dine together. Customers will take available seats and place their orders with a waiter, while the chef quickly prepares the requested dishes. Cooking time has been streamlined compared with the existing cooking system so that it works better when preparing meals for groups.

Once the food is ready, the waiter serves it at the customers’ table. The customers enjoy their meal, pay the bill, and then leave.

We also plan to renovate the existing restaurants that have been sitting unused around the cities so that they can make use of this new functionality. I hope you’ll be able to enjoy wonderful moments at restaurants together with your family, partner, and friends.

The main focus of this update is city travel, resorts, and restaurants. Of course, we’ve also spent a great deal of time fixing existing bugs and addressing awkward or unnatural behavior.

There are still many areas where we have more work to do.
Even so, I hope you’ll have fun with everything we’ve prepared.
Things are extremely hectic right now as we prepare the update, so I’ll stop here for today and get back to wrapping everything up.

Thank you.
Kjun

Discord - Group Chat That’s All Fun & Games

[x-MuT4Re_0.6-x]

(post deleted by author)

[x-MuT4Re_0.6-x]

Wow!!! this development video is good, especially on behavior and swimming. Ooooh, and sleepovers!!! Thank you so much, I’ve been longing for that ever since. Thank you for the development video!!!

And I’ve been thinking about Canvas Town and I keep coming back to one question: after I build my town, what would actually make me choose it over the bigger cities? If the other cities already have more things to do, more places to explore, nature, roads, vehicles, animals, NPCs and activities, then what is the point of Canvas Town after the building part is finished? I can make a nice-looking town, but if there isn’t something that makes me actually want to live there and spend time there, I feel like I would eventually just go back to the bigger cities. I think that’s the part that needs to be considered, because customization is great, but the town also needs a reason for players to keep coming back to it.

And on the other side, we really do need more animals Ducks, swans and flamingos would be sooo nice around the beaches and would make beach pictures look even more aesthetic . And for the countryside, I’d really love to see cows, horses, sheep and even little chicks. Even if they don’t have many interactions at first, I honestly wouldn’t mind, because just having them around would make those areas feel so much more alive. Then later on, feeding and other interactions could be added.

And it would be great if you guys could tell us anything about animals, even if it’s just whether they’re something you’re planning to work on, because I’ve been waiting for them for sooo long

[Minthyuyu]

Hello Kjun and team​.

Thanks for the new infos. I’d rather you move the update to september than releasing it rushed and half-baked. So that was a good decision.

@Kjun

The first is a system that allows us to define actions that Zois should prioritize when they enter a particular location.

As for the NPC interactions, I think I prefer the first method over having assigned areas, especially for players that have multiple businesses.(And said businesses that still need fixing, please).

It feels more natural to me, if they prioritize the actions on their own. The second option would give us more control, but it might make the NPCs feel a bit like routined machines instead of a “thinking” individual.

I am glad to hear that you keep working on fundamental things again. It’s especially important, because a lot of players get the feeling that inZOI takes a turn they don’t want (like losing the direction, making development feel scattered/the punching and throwing things. At least that is my impression).

The highlights for me are the ability to finally have sleep-overs and being able to properly eat at a restaurant together. If we could implement these functions into our own restaurant/café businesses instead of placing everything into displays (like cooked dishes. drinks, etc. Because no one wants a coffee that sits in a display for hours) that would be a huge improvement, but not a priority.

Please keep up and stick with the fundamental improvements and bug fixing. It is very much needed and, in my opinion, more important than adding any huge new content on top right now.

A small addition you could maybe at though is the possibility to say “goodbye” to a Zoi once we split from a date/group. I really dislike the fact that they just disappear without a proper closure.

How cute would it be to kiss/hug our dating partner goodbye after the newly added sleepover​.

Please don’t forget to catch a break and have a nice weekend​

[orbinaut]

I’d rather prefer it to be the “toggle run” with one tap of SHIFT, instead of either holding both SHIFT and forward movement at the same time, or just holding the movement key for extended time to automatically switch to running. One tap of the SHIFT would switch to running and releasing the movement key for a moment and pressing it again would switch back to walking. I got used to this in Medieval Dynasty and I’ve been missing the same behavior in other games.

[TinyFable]

Hi Kjun and team!

Thank you so much for working this hard to create this great game

I love the restaurant news! I’m looking forward to that. I had to laugh at the being able to punch another Zoi remark “which is by the way not a nice thing to do” I think this is what a life-sim is all about. That you can play your own stories.

I hope that our Zoi’s can linger on a lot when they finished eating or whatever, to do other stuff available on the lot and I don’t have to be alert to cancel a ‘go home’ action on time

I love the high level of player customization in InZOI like being able to choose if you want you Zoi’s to run or stroll along the streets.

Keep enjoying the stars at night and the changing of seasons..

Kind regards from A very hot summer’s day in the Netherlands

[EllaEstella]

Hi Kjun,

thanks for another great update on the development of InZoi.

I like the possibility to toggle running on but would also prefer to just switch between running and walking by pressing SHIFT once as @orbinaut suggested.

I love to see that we will be getting proper restaurants and hope that we will also be able to run these as own businesses. While focussing on the fundamentals please also make fixes to the many bugs which we have in the current system. I think this part of the game has the most bugs at the moment.

Regarding the new system for visiting places in the city: I think the first option would be fine. But I have also a concern to share on this: at the moment the automatically scheduled events are the only option to meet other households living in the city as these families normally do not hang around in the city apart from these events. If with this change Zois go home right after e.g. eating in a café it would further lower the chances for a new Zoi to meet his neighbours in the city. Please consider this part as well and either let them stay and hang around after they have done the main activities on the lot or increase the chances to meet the other households naturally when simply visiting places, meaning give the non-played households more push to leave their home and visit places in the city apart from the scheduled events.

Thanks a lot

[DivineManifest]

Hi Kjun,

Thank you for posting weekly development videos. We all very much look forward to them.

As @orbinaut has suggested, for Zois to run, please consider using Toggle SHIFT key instead of the long press W.
Using long press W would not be very user friendly as sometimes we want to continue walking, while sometimes run. Using long press W for running will force users to frequently go to the game Options to toggle the setting, which is not user friendly.

So consider using SHIFT as a toggle lock key with W for running.

Thanks!

[Kara]

First of all, thank you for continuing to show us the progress you are making. Even though the August update has been pushed back to early September, I completely agree with taking the time to work on the foundations of inZOI and fix the bugs that have the biggest impact on gameplay.

@Kjun

Le premier est un système qui nous permet de définir les actions que les Zois devraient prioriser quand ils entrent dans un lieu particulier.

Le deuxième est un système de permission d’interaction qui nous permet de spécifier qui peut utiliser chaque objet.

To answer your question, yes, I am completely in favor of this change. I think the two systems complement each other very well: the first gives Zois priorities that match the reason for their visit, while the second allows us to define who can use certain objects or spaces.

For player-created businesses and spaces in the future, I hope we will also be able to define these permissions ourselves. For example, if I create a business, I would like to be able to reserve certain areas for employees, so customers cannot go behind the counter to use objects that are meant for employees. I often see customers going behind counters, employees sitting at customer tables, or teachers and students sitting at the same tables in school cafeterias.

Most importantly, I hope the priority system guides Zois without making their behavior too robotic or predictable. The reason for a Zoi’s visit should influence their behavior without completely determining it. They should have a logical direction while still having enough freedom for their actions to feel natural and sometimes unpredictable.

I think this same logic could also apply to NPC hairdressers and NPC customers. We still often see female NPC customers leaving the salon bald or with extremely short hair, while some male customers end up with long hair. The NPC hairdresser should take the customer’s appearance, preferences and reason for the visit into account, so the result feels more coherent and logical while still allowing some variety.

I also really liked the new free physical interactions shown in the video. Being able to throw a plate or hit another Zoi interests me mostly because of what it represents: more freedom for the player to interact with the world.

I hope this freedom can also come with more natural reactions and consequences. If a Zoi gets hit by an object, sees something break, or gets punched, other Zois should be able to react to what just happened. Physical altercations could have real consequences, such as injuries, bruises or marks, perhaps even requiring the Zoi to seek medical treatment.

This could also open the door to other interconnected systems. For example, a Physical Strength skill could have a real purpose, and physical interactions could create opportunities for careers such as boxing or other combat-related professions. The more these systems have meaningful connections to each other, the more useful and immersive they become.

These reactions and consequences are what can turn a simple interaction into a genuine situation created by the player.

I also really appreciated the improvements to movement, especially in the water. These may seem like small details, but they have a real impact on immersion. I would also love to see activities available to the player being naturally available to NPCs as well. For example, if I can go swimming in a pool or in the ocean, I would love to see other Zois spontaneously swimming there too. It would make the world feel more alive, as if these activities were genuinely part of everyday life rather than something that exists mainly for the player.

Now that you are also adding the ability to invite other Zois to stay overnight, I hope this can also encourage more realistic and meaningful nighttime activities. For example, nightclubs should stay open late into the night rather than closing around midnight. If Zois can spend the night together, go out and enjoy nightlife, it would make sense for nightclubs and other nighttime venues to remain active much later.

The restaurant shown in the video is another great example of this direction. Being able to sit down, order from a waiter, wait for the food and then be served feels much more immersive than an activity being reduced to a single interaction.

I hope more activities can eventually work this way: more steps, more interactions, and different ways of experiencing the same activity, while still leaving enough freedom for things to unfold naturally.

I would also love to see this philosophy applied to careers and jobs. If something like going to a restaurant can be developed into several steps, I think jobs could benefit from the same depth instead of a single interaction representing an entire process. It would make it feel more like the Zoi is actually doing their job rather than simply performing an interaction that summarizes the whole activity.

And this is where I think all of these systems could become especially interesting in an open-world life simulation.

What I hope for inZOI is a real combination of life simulation and roleplay, where our Zoi’s life is not simply about keeping their needs satisfied, earning money and completing activities.

I want my Zoi to actually live a life.

I want to be able to go to work, meet people, build friendships, fall in love, have conflicts, go swimming, eat at a restaurant, develop hobbies, experience unexpected events, explore the world, or simply take a walk and enjoy beautiful landscapes without having any particular goal.

Sometimes, I just want to wander around, admire the scenery and enjoy being in the world without needing a specific objective or reward. To me, simply living and enjoying your surroundings should be an experience in itself.

At the same time, I want NPCs to have lives of their own.

This is why I am very supportive of the NPC autonomy system. Being able to decide which actions NPCs can perform would let each player choose how much control they want over their world.

I especially like the idea of playing my own Zoi while allowing everyone else to live their own lives. A neighbor could fall in love, get married, have a child or get divorced without me ever controlling their story. Then, months later, I could run into that same Zoi again and discover that their life has completely changed.

For me, this is where an open world combined with life simulation and roleplay can become truly special.

The most exciting part is when all these systems interact with each other: NPC autonomy, physical interactions, natural reactions, consequences, skills, careers, deeper activities, relationships and an evolving world can create situations that the developers never had to specifically script in advance.

That is exactly what I hope for inZOI.

I don’t want the game to constantly tell me what to do. I want it to give me the systems, tools, rules and freedom, and then let me decide what kind of story I want to create with them.

The more naturally these systems can interact with each other, the more our imagination can become the true limit of the game.

Thank you again for showing us these developments. I am genuinely happy to see you focusing on these foundations, because I believe they can determine how deep, alive, coherent and free inZOI can become in the years to come.

[Salamander]

Canvas Town isn’t even active yet, and it hasn’t been mentioned again, even though it was supposed to be included in the June update. Or am I missing something?

[NIck_Olay]

It’s really cool! They even added the little thing that I wrote about a long time ago. I thought it was already forgotten, but no. I will wait further for the addition of what I wrote about.

[Carnel]

Hooray! Finally @Kjun got to play in the apartment in Bliss Bay! I hope he was able to appreciate the convenience and appearance of the game when all the walls are down and when they’re up, and now we can expect positive developments in this direction too!

I’m even glad about the slight delay (please don’t hit me, other players! ), because I’ll be away, and this way I’ll have less time to worry that “Oh no, the game’s already updated and I can’t check out the new features!”

But seriously, I also really love that all the changes being made make the game look like something truly alive and cohesive—where the player has freedom and lives among a society where each member behaves not just as “decoration,” but as a genuinely independent individual. And I really appreciate that for those who want it, there are ways to regulate this behavior in a kind of “administrative mode” by assigning who can do what This is also an element of individual choice for each player, and thus immerses them even more in the simulation, since everything in it will be exactly as the specific player wants it, not the same rules set once and for all for absolutely everyone. That’s great!

P.S. I also want to support @orbinaut—it’s a very good idea to toggle the run/walk mode with a single Shift press. In particular, it will be easier to get screenshots of a running character using the built-in Windows combination Win+PrtScr—right now it just doesn’t work because of holding Shift down, so you either have to press it very quickly after releasing the key or pause the game.

Yes, I understand there are built-in screenshot tools, but I often find it more convenient and faster to use the system ones. And a single press would solve not only eliminating fatigue but also this problem. But breaking into a run from holding W for a long time—no, I frankly don’t like that option. If you just disable it—you’re left with the same screenshot problem.

[pungpp]

I also want Zois to wander around the city aimlessly! It’s an activity people actually do in real life if our city is pleasant—just walking down the street and getting some fresh air. That alone would be more than enough.

[mimivision2022]

What makes me happy is that Kjun is willing to post here on the forum now I finally don’t need to use translation software anymore.
Regarding what the topic discusses, I think the first option feels more natural, while the second one offers sufficient control. Either way, both seem acceptable to me.
Maybe I’m leaning more towards the second one? After all, this little bit of “extra work” won’t affect my gameplay, and it can prevent certain areas from being illegally occupied by others and ruining the immersion. Besides, I’ll have full control over it anyway.
(Hey! Next time, I hope Kjun can share more about improvement plans for personalization and features on the forum )

[mzhigarina]

I can’t wait to beat the out of npc zois.

[Neko]

OMG I’m suuuuuper excited for this update!!!
A couple of weeks ago, I requested the NPC autonomy for getting married, have kids, etc, I can’t believe it’s gonna be released in the next update
I’m also super hyped about the vacation system and the restaurants, I’ve been wanting this since a loooong time. Being able to punch people in the streets will also increase the chaos in the game, and I can’t wait to test that hahah

Thank you for the super work all the team is doing!!

[JubilantBridgeport_0]

09.17.2026

Hello Kajun,

I’m not sure if I am posting in the right place but I wanted to brain storm a few ideas I have ….

1.More food options to cook.

2. More base game clothing and hair options (*most canvas clothing do not work I think because I don’t have any mods) I play on MacBook
3. Once the zoi gets to a certain level in the relationship such as Married they shouldn’t be surprised by their partner being in the restroom with them
4. More outside toys that are playable for kids and toddlers
5. I want to edit the school lot lol
6. Camping options and like rent a cabin maybe a new town in the future for this option as a vacation

[Kara]

@Kjun

At the same time, some members of the development team felt that giving players a wider range of actions would allow for more diverse stories and greater freedom to express the situations they want to create.

I completely agree with the direction you’re taking with Active Mode.

I especially agree with what some members of the development team said about giving players a wider range of actions, allowing them to create more diverse stories and giving them greater freedom to express the situations they want to create.

I think this kind of freedom is very important for a life simulation game in 2026. If a player doesn’t want to use Active Mode, they simply don’t have to use it. But for players who want more freedom and more possibilities to create their own stories, having this option is a very good thing. I personally think this is the right direction for inZOI.

I also really appreciate that you are introducing it carefully as an Experimental Feature and that you want to improve it based on player feedback.

I would also really love to see some improvements to the third-person camera while driving. Right now, the camera is simply too far away from the vehicle. It makes the car feel small and distant, which really hurts the immersion and makes driving less enjoyable. Having at least a few different third-person camera angles, including a much closer view behind the vehicle, would make a huge difference.

Overall, I really like the direction you’re taking with inZOI. Thank you to the whole team for listening to the community and for all the work you’re putting into the game!

[RestlessSloth]

I am glad to hear you are using caution with the introduction of the active mode. Many of the new features you have been developing are aimed at enhancing immersion, such as the ‘active mode’, minigames and ‘first person view’. While these features are fun, they are seen in many video games of any genre. There are many games that allow you to play from a character’s perspective. There aren’t many games that allow a player to “play god”. inZOI’s story and lore place you in the position of a ‘deity’, a concept that I find very exciting, but beyond this initial introduction, every feature in the game suggests that you are the zois you have created. The concept of the game is becoming somewhat confused. I think the team needs to ensure that any new features are consistent with the overall vision for the game, even if this means disappointing some players.