Hello,
I’m writing this in a bit of a hurry today because I really want to share a video showing how hard the inZOI team has been working. And I’d also like to discuss one thing we’re currently working on.
As we build the new Reputation system, we’d like to share in advance how we’re revising the existing Karma system. Back in October, many of you felt disappointed when Karma was hidden due to how difficult it was to organize and present clearly. We’ve collected feedback again, and we’d like to improve it in a clearer, better direction.
Unlike Reputation, Karma is a value that quietly accumulates behind the scenes—separate from visible public evaluation. It’s designed so the overall direction of your actions over time can function like “luck” during play. We want to express that feeling with the concept: “Instead of picking up luck, you pick up karma.”
The core of Karma is not to forcibly change outcomes, but to slightly twist the results of certain actions and choices. In particular, we’re designing it so Karma can gently influence areas where Reputation is hard to apply—events that normally feel like coincidence or probability. That means even in the same situation, with the same result check, the kind of life you’ve lived could very rarely create a “miracle” reversal.
For example, if you’ve built up enough “good Karma”, even if you accidentally enter shark-infested waters and receive a “death” outcome, there could be an extremely small chance for that result to flip and you survive. A pregnancy attempt judged as a “failure” might unexpectedly succeed. Even a serious accident that results in a “death” outcome could, on rare occasions, turn into survival. Beyond major events, good Karma would also show up in everyday life: slightly more customers visiting your business, negative feedback nudging subtly in a better direction, a higher chance of good dreams, and tiny advantages in things like sales rating, gathering, fishing, romance success rates, and more.
On the other hand, if "bad Karma"accumulates, the same structure works against you. Even if you receive a “survival” result in shark-infested waters, there could be an extremely small chance it flips to death. A pregnancy “success” could turn into failure. In daily life, you might see slightly fewer customers, good feedback tilting subtly negative, a higher chance of nightmares, and small disadvantages in sales rating, gathering, fishing, romance success rates, and so on. We’re also considering situations where, even with high skill, you may very occasionally get a lower-grade result.
Karma will not always move in the same way as Reputation. Most of the time they’ll likely align—but what we care about most is the moment they separate. For instance, refusing to give someone an autograph might lower Reputation while leaving Karma unchanged. Anonymous donations might not affect Reputation at all, but could increase Karma. Also, if a major one-time event happens—such as Karma actually flipping fate in death or pregnancy—then Karma itself may shift afterward, leaving behind a meaning like: “You were spared once—so live better from here on.” Meanwhile, the smaller everyday effects (business, dreams, sales, gathering, etc.) are planned to reflect Karma’s direction in a gentle way, rather than directly changing the Karma value itself.
All probabilities, numbers, and conditions are still in the tuning phase—this is only a direction-sharing step. But because this system depends heavily on player experience and fairness, we want to hear your concerns early, and also collect ideas like “this should be reflected in Karma,” so we can incorporate them into the design as soon as possible. Please feel free to share feedback anytime.
Your feedback is truly important to this design. If you have any concerns or hopes for where it should go, please let us know.
Have a great weekend! Thank you.
kjun
※ For the video, please check it on Discord or the forum.
🔗 Discord: Link
🔗 Forum: Link
Kjun’s Reply to Your Comments
Hello everyone—happy Wednesday!
Today, our team spent time discussing the full update roadmap for 2026. It genuinely feels like this year is going to be something special, and I’m really excited about what’s ahead. I’ll admit I want to tell you everything right away—but if I reveal it too quickly, you might stop reading my posts… so I’ll try to share it slowly (and yes, I’m saying that with a laugh).
What I can say with confidence is this: the inZOI team won’t stop. Just like always, we’ll keep moving forward, and we’re planning at least 7–8 major updates this year. We’re going to work hard to earn your love—again and again.
Karma and Reputation
One of the biggest topics we talked about was the Karma and Reputation systems.
We’re planning to rebuild Karma as an invisible system—something that quietly reacts to the player’s choices and behavior, and influences things like luck and the probability of certain events occurring. I also wanted to be very clear about something: Karma will function separately from Reputation.
Reputation is tied to social perception—how the world sees you, how others talk about you, how society responds. Karma, on the other hand, is meant to reflect the player’s personal actions and the path they’ve taken in life.
And as always, you gave us thoughtful feedback.
Many of you said Karma shouldn’t be reduced to a single score. Instead, you wanted it to be divided into multiple independent areas—such as relationships, legacy, self-trust, and social harm—each accumulating separately and leading to different outcomes. The reasoning behind this was compelling: real life is messy, layered, and sometimes contradictory, and a system like Karma should be able to express that complexity. It should also support richer storytelling and allow players to create more varied narratives.
To be honest, we were originally leaning toward a simpler structure. But after reading your feedback, we agreed that your approach is better—and we’re going to reflect it.
You also suggested that Karma shouldn’t be purely passive. Some of you proposed mechanics that allow players to actively interact with it—by spending luck directly, or cleansing negative Karma through rituals, prayers, or talismans. One idea that stood out was the suggestion to include specifically Korean-style events. It was memorable, and it had a lot of charm—but because it may feel too culturally specific for a global audience, we’ll likely avoid going too far in that direction. I’m sorry about that.😢
At the same time, there were important concerns raised. Some of you worried that Karma could limit player freedom—especially for villain-style playthroughs—if negative Karma becomes overly punishing. In response, many suggested adding optional activation and adjustment controls, such as a slider to tune how strongly Karma affects gameplay. I think this is an excellent idea, and we plan to include it.
A few weeks ago, some of you also shared feedback about wanting more detailed control over autonomous behavior, and we’re currently developing systems in that direction. Our plan is to connect those controls with Karma options so that players can tailor the experience to their preferred play style.
We also discussed how Karma could connect with post-death gameplay, such as ghost play and reincarnation systems. Your storytelling ideas here were genuinely exciting—like different types of ghosts appearing when certain Karma domains cross negative thresholds. Honestly, your ideas are so consistently good that they sometimes make me feel a little embarrassed. (In a good way.)
There was also debate around potential contradictions between Karma and criminal history systems, and again, concerns about restricting player freedom. But one thing I want to promise clearly: we will provide options. If you want Karma to be strict and meaningful, you’ll be able to play that way. If you want a freer sandbox experience, you’ll have tools to make the system feel comfortable.
Canvas and Customization Improvements
We also talked about improvements to Canvas and customization.
Many of you liked the direction of adding better filtering—such as searching by whether a creation uses mods, by city, by building size, or by price. It’s great to hear that these changes feel genuinely helpful.
One suggestion that I found especially fresh was the idea of letting downloaded Zois automatically appear in-game—as an optional setting. That’s a really interesting concept, and we’re going to discuss it internally.
You also shared requests for more detailed upgrades, like expanding customization presets and separating clothing items into more flexible parts. Some of these improvements are already included in this year’s plan.
Build Mode
For Build Mode, you asked for more creative tools and more precision—things like curved walls, better stairs, curtain doors, more detailed placement controls, and even wall depth adjustments.
And yes… the request for curved stairs came up again.
Unfortunately, even this year, it didn’t make it into the update plan. I read this request every time, and I always feel sorry—so I wanted to write it here directly. But I also want you to know this: if the building team gets even a little room to breathe, I won’t forget it. I’ll push to include it the moment we can.
Jobs and Career Systems
Another major theme was the job and career system—especially freelancer careers, and particularly the idea of a K-POP idol path.
You didn’t just say “add an idol job.” You gave concrete, realistic expectations: audition processes, fame systems, fan meetings, concerts, brand sponsorships, managers, security staff, and the kinds of social interactions that make a career feel alive and believable.
This year, we’re actively improving jobs, and this is part of the development plan. We’ll do our best to build it properly—so please look forward to it.
Beyond that, you asked for more realistic working life systems: interviews, adjustable working hours, hiring and employee interviews, improved workplace operations, clearer career and skill progression, and job-specific missions and challenges. We’re taking those requests seriously.
Architecture and Cultural Content
You also asked for more cultural content, including traditional clothing such as Hanbok and Joseon-era royal court outfits, as well as broader Korean and Asian cultural elements.
The good news is: these outfits are already in progress—and honestly, development is nearly finished.
This week, there were also many requests for deeper city identity—reflecting climate, culture, and career opportunities—and for region-specific content. On the building side, you asked for more variety in materials, decor, and furniture, and for furniture to have stronger function and purpose in gameplay. We’ll add these step by step and keep shaping the game into something better.
Many of you also expressed strong interest in a more realistic transportation system—driving, vehicle AI, collision effects, and GPS navigation. And there’s growing demand for a social media system as well. In the first half of the year, texting and phone calls are already in development, and we’ll also review the feasibility of expanding into SNS.
As always, thank you so much for your feedback this week. This week in particular felt incredibly productive. Game development often comes with technical walls, and there are times when solutions feel far away—but this week, we were lucky. We found good ideas, and we also found technical paths forward. It gave us a lot of energy.
It’s extremely cold in Korea these days. Wherever you are, I hope you’re staying warm and comfortable. And I truly hope—hands together—that for all of us, our happiest days are still ahead.
kjun