If you’ve been following the life sim space, you already know Paralives has been one of the most anticipated games in our community for years. The indie title from Paralives Studio has been in development since 2019, and after a delay that pushed the original December 2025 launch, it’s finally happening: Paralives hits Steam Early Access on May 25th at 10 AM ET.
To celebrate, the team dropped a brand new gameplay trailer, and it’s worth every second of your time.
The nearly 9-minute trailer covers a lot of ground. You get a proper look at the Paramaker character creator, including options for appearance, physique, and personality. There’s also a look at the Storytellers system, which lets you adjust key gameplay settings and difficulty to shape how you play. Build mode, the starting neighborhood, and live mode animations all make appearances too, including the very classic moment of a kitchen catching fire mid-cooking attempt.
What’s coming at launch is the core gameplay loop: creating Parafolk, managing their wants and needs, building and decorating homes, and navigating social connections like friendships and relationships. Features like cars, pets, and deeper parenting gameplay are on the roadmap for later in the Early Access period, which is expected to run about two years.
The developers have also been clear from the start that all updates during Early Access and beyond will be free, with no paid DLCs planned at any point.
For those of us who love life sim games and cozy building gameplay, this is a big moment. The art style leans into a charming cartoon aesthetic rather than photorealism, which honestly feels like the right call for this kind of game.
If you want to be ready the moment it drops, go wishlist Paralives on Steam now. May 25th is almost here.
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