Within 1 month of the long-awaited life sim Life By You being postponed without a new release date, Paradox announced that the entire project had been cancelled.

"Sadly, we have decided by you to cancel the release of our long-awaited Life Sim Life," Parado attributed to Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja, "This is an incredibly difficult call and it is important to note that the side of Paradox cannot meet both our own and the expectations of the community." It is clearly failing.

The cancellation was also announced on Paradox's Twitter feed and website.

Lilja acknowledged that "Life by You has been involved in the work for a long time," and said Paradox hoped it would "leave a mark on this exciting and new genre.""That's why, he explained, Paradox has already delayed releasing it twice: "It's fair for the studio and the game to realize the possibilities we've seen."

We've seen that possibility too. In a 2023 preview, he said Life by You is like "the Sims who cut the brakes" and "could be something very special if it doesn't shake."

Sadly, it looks exactly the same as the shaking happened.

"A few weeks ago, we still felt the game was missing in some key areas, so we decided to postpone the early access release to reevaluate your life," Lilja wrote. "Extending the time was an option, but after taking that pause to gain a wider view of the game, it became clear that the path leading us to a confident release was too long and uncertain.

"This is not to say that the game does not show promising qualities; life by you had a number of strengths and the hard work of a dedicated team that went into realizing them. But as more time comes to believe we can't get close enough to the version that we'll be satisfied with, we'd better stop.

Life By You was scheduled to start Early access on May 4, but as Paradox stated, "more development time was needed." Two weeks ago again delayed.It did not offer a new release goal at the time, because the company said, "it is wiser to commit to a new date that we are not sure to meet, rather than hold off while we plan ahead."

At this point, the paradox appears to be as perplexed by a sudden and completely unexpected cancellation as we are.Lilja noted that mistakes and problems in development "always become painfully obvious in hindsight, but still should not reach this kind of magnitude."

"We have to look long and hard at what has led us here and see what changes we have to make to be better," he wrote. "Ultimately, our mission will remain the same and we will continue to take all the steps necessary to do it."

Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive, made a similar point in another statement discussing the life impact of You's cancellation on Paradox's finances.

"The performance was poor in recent releases," says Fredrik Wester. "We are now starting a new project in a different way, but it is clear that we will have to make further changes so that the quality is more consistent and we can promise the players. We have to evaluate how we manage the project and how we organize it. We have a very solid financial position and a strong core gaming portfolio and are confident about the future."