Paradox Interactive has officially shut down the Life by You project after half a decade of work of devs from Tectonic.

A laid-off developer for the game claimed that the studio was under "purgatory" before they were told that the project had been canceled.

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Life by You is an upcoming game that is designed to rival Electronic Arts' The Sims 4. Tectonic has been working on the project since 2019 with the early access initially scheduled for September 2023.

Prior to cancelation, Paradox announced that the launch was pushed back to May 2024 and moved again to June 4. The team was composed of 24 employees and the game was supposed to be the studio's video game debut.

"Sadly, with cancellation of their sole project, we have to take the tough decision to close down the studio. We are deeply grateful for their hard work in trying to take Paradox into a new genre," said Frederik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive.

Tectonic Devs Say Studio Tried to Revive Project

Life by You game designer Willem Delventhal shared on LinkedIn that the team spent "a month in purgatory" before the studio was shut down by Paradox. According to him, the employees found out about the closure after it was publicly announced.

Delventhal also revealed that the studio attempted to save the project by going indie and finding potential buyers, however, there was no luck on their side. He also added that the team did all the work to prove that Life by You is worth launching.

The game designer also shared that internal metrics for the game were met and exceeded at some point during the development. The game also received a thumbs-up a few weeks before launch.

Paradox has been hitting a rough patch after the disappointing release of Cities of Skylines 2, The Lamplighters League, and more.

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