"Life by You" looked like it would finally be the game that would give "The Sims" a shot in the arm, but it was plagued by delays, was unexpectedly canceled in June, and its developer, Paradox Tectonic, was unexpectedly forced to shut down. Now, as is often the case with such cases, unreleased images of the game are beginning to come to light.

The images come from the online portfolios of former Life By You artists Richard Khoo, Eric Maki, and Chris Lewis, and were compiled by Sims enthusiast and content creator SimMattically on Twitter SimMattically compiled by Sims enthusiast and content creator SimMattically on Twitter. Many of the images are basic shots of character creators, but some showcase more visually striking indoor and outdoor locations.

In a sad irony, many of these shots look better than the official "Life For You" screens released by Paradox before the game was canceled: Twitter replies indicate that many people were surprised by the quality of the screens. "Life By You" s real-time performance may not have looked as nice as the pre-rendered shots with cleaner lighting that former artists are now sharing.

We are also frustrated that nearly two months after the cancellation, Paradox has not explained why it decided to cancel the show. At the time, the company stated that Life By You was "lacking in several key areas" and that "the road to a confident release was too long and uncertain."

The company's decision to discontinue Life By You was not based on a decision by Paradox. [However, former Paradox Tectonic designer Willem Delventhal stated shortly after the cancellation that development had exceeded internal metrics, and Paradox Interactive did not offer any explanation for the game's eventual delay or eventual cancellation There was never any explanation for the final delay or eventual cancellation.

Whatever ultimately led to the demise of Life by You is sure to be a disappointment: we said in our 2023 preview that it "looks like 'The Sims' with the brakes cut," and frankly, after a decade of "The Sims 4," the life sim I think the genre needs it. Maybe next time.

Unpublished images from Life By You are below: