After winning fans back with Stardew Valley-like DLC, inZOI continues its redemption arc by following in The Sims 4's footsteps with a focus on the afterlife

inZOI has had quite the Early Access journey on Steam since PUBG developer Krafton first launched it at the tail end of March, suffering from dwindling players before making a nice comeback with its Stardew Valley-like DLC – and there's still plenty in store.

Earlier this month, director and producer Hyungjun 'Kjun' Kim unveiled "realistic tragedy, the darker sides of life, and unpredictable dramatic events" and more are underway for future updates following fans' requests. More immediately, though, the team has prepared a chunky patch with a plethora of spooktacular features to enjoy. Krafton reveals version 0.4.0 – which is out now– in a new announcement online.

"This update brings vibrant seasonal changes to the daily lives of the Zois in celebration of the Halloween season. New seasonal activities such as pumpkin farming, cooking, and carving, Trick or Treat events, and ghost fish fishing have been added, transforming the city into a festive wonderland." Perhaps most significantly, however, Krafton's new update adds ghost Zois to the game… think The Sims 4's own ghost Sims.

After Zois die, players can now choose "On to the Afterlife" and control them as ghosts. This ghost state lasts three in-game days – so no, you can't just go ghost mode forever like in The Sims 4 thanks to its Life and Death DLC – after which Zois will need to either ascend or, sadly, attend their own funeral before departing forever. Krafton notes, "the reincarnation feature is not included in this update," but is still apparently coming.

There's quite a bit of depth to the ghosts, too, with unique urges and special skills. Funerals are new as well, arriving alongside funeral homes and cemeteries – a great first step in "the darker sides of life," Kjun previously said, were in the works, if you ask me. It's not all gloom and doom in version 0.4.0, though, with a plethora of characteristics and traits also dropping for live Zois. My personal favorite? "Emotionally Needy," of course.

Zois seem to have been overhauled entirely to make room for better emotional depth and realism, and new interactions have come as part of this effort. These span all ages and life stages, too, so no more potato babies – a problem EA similarly had to address with The Sims 4 in the past. There's honestly so much included in version 0.4.0, however, so it's worth a full read through Krafton's patch notes.

From improved character customization to Halloween-themed additions, inZOI's latest patch certainly isn't lacking. I'd wager its "Mostly Positive" reviews on Steam may go up now, as they did after the life sim's cozy Island Getaway DLC.

Searching for other new games to play? Browse through our roundup of the best games like The Sims 4 to enjoy while you wait for future inZOI updates.