Paralives finally has a new date on the calendar. Paralives Studio says its community-backed life sim will launch in Early Access on May 25, 2026, bringing the long-running project to Steam for PC and Mac.
The release is a meaningful moment for a game that first built its following on ambitious building tools, deep character customization and the promise of a more open-ended life sim. Paralives will cost $39.99 during Early Access, according to the studio's FAQ, with the price set to increase when the game reaches its full release. The team also says it will not sell paid DLC, with future expansions planned as free additions.
Paralives starts with PC and Mac
The Steam page lists Paralives as a sandbox life simulation game about building homes, creating Parafolks and managing their lives across an open-world town. The Early Access version is planned around three pillars: Build Mode, Paramaker and Live Mode.
Build Mode is the game's house-creation suite, with flexible wall placement, curved walls, split-level platforms, object resizing, fences and a color wheel. Paramaker covers Parafolk creation, including height, body and face sliders, tattoo placement, outfit management, genetics and asymmetry options. Live Mode is where the simulation side begins, with an open-world town, day-night cycle, careers, emotions, needs, relationships, children, aging, death, autonomy, shops, restaurants and modding tools listed for day one on the game's official development page.
The studio is keeping the initial launch focused on Steam. The FAQ says there are no current plans for console versions, and Paralives will not have phone or tablet versions. It also confirms the game is single-player and does not require an internet connection to play, although sharing user-created content and mods will run through Steam Workshop.
The new date follows a late delay
Paralives was previously targeting December 2025 before the team delayed the launch. In a November message, lead developer Alex Massé said broader playtesting showed the game was not yet meeting the team's release standard, especially because Live Mode still had impactful bugs and the town needed more activities.
That delay is important context for the May date. Life sims live or die on the everyday simulation layer, not just the building tools. Paralives has shown off a lot of customization over the years, but the studio's own explanation made clear that the extra months were meant to improve the first-time experience and make Live Mode sturdier before players pay for Early Access.
The post-launch plan is still substantial. Paralives Studio's development page lists weather and seasons, pets, cars and bikes, boats and houseboats, swimming, story progression for NPCs, gardening, fishing, social events such as parties and weddings, town-editing tools and more personality traits, wants, emotions and jobs among the features planned during Early Access.
According to the Steam page, the team expects Early Access to last about two years, though that timing could change depending on development. After seven years of public updates, Patreon support and community feedback, Paralives is now close to the part that matters most: letting players see whether its flexible tools and small-team life sim ambitions hold up in a playable release.