A few weeks before it was slated to hit early access, the Sims-like life sim Paralives has been delayed to May 2026 so that the developer can address some “impactful bugs” and add more activities to the game.
Developed by Alex Massé over the course of six years, Paralives is a life sim about building homes, lives, and bonds. You get to create a character, design a house, customize the furniture, and more as you interact with citizens and live out a cozy life in an open-world town. Not unlike The Sims, there’s plenty to do: garden, fish, work, swim, raise children, discover personality traits, and more. Unfortunately, while it was planned to launch in early access on December 8, Massé posted on the game’s official Steam Store page that Paralives’ release has been delayed to May 25, 2026.
“We had to make the difficult decision to delay the release,” Massé said. “We are truly sorry for the last-minute announcement. After thoughtful consideration, we feel it’s best for the game and the community. This year, we ran many playtests with friends and fans, and we were confident that we could improve the game enough in time for December. In the lead-up to Early Access release, we broadened our playtests with a more varied playerbase, and the latest feedback we received made us realise the game isn’t up to the standard we wanted it to meet for release. Players enjoy the flexibility and the customization of the Paramaker and Build Mode.”
“However, there are still impactful bugs in the Live Mode and a lack of activities to do in the town,” Massé continued. “Which dampened the enjoyment of the players, and we feel it is necessary to work on these before delivering the product to the community.”
Massé pointed to an updated roadmap on the game’s official website that focuses on the improvements the team will make over the coming months. Alongside addressing bugs and adding activities, these adjustments will include “fixing important issues and improving the first-time user experience” to ensure that players are happy with the state the game launches in.
“We are so proud of what we have built, but now, we just need a bit more time to polish the simulation part of the game,” Massé continued. “This would ensure Paralives offers a great first experience when it launches, making players come back for every exciting free update and expansion that we will put out afterwards.”
When Paralives launches in early access in May 2026, it’ll get new features and add-on content that will be completely free of charge.