Though we’d known about it for quite some time, breezy life simulator Paralives has managed to become one of this month’s surprise hits. With over 250k copies sold in less than eight hours, it was off to a great start on Steam earlier this week, and now the developers are promising no paid DLC will be released.
That’s exactly what lead developer Alex Massé of Paralives Studio said during a Reddit AMA: “There will never be paid DLCs, only free updates! Even after the Early Access. As life sim fans, we wanted to make a game we would like to play ourselves without the need to purchase a lot of extra content and we are happy to deliver that.” Comparisons to EA’s The Sims series are obvious, and this stance – now backed by the game’s success – feels like a direct answer to life sim fans’ demands over the years.
“Because the team is small (only 15 people), the sales we made so far will s ustain us for many years, even if we increase the size of the team so we’re safe and really grateful for that,” they added. It’s sound logic which signals Alex Massé and his team are looking to stay sustainable versus growing too much too fast.
While the game’s current total sales number is unknown, 250k units sold in less than half a day is a mighty feat for a team that’s been flying under many radars, despite Paralives earning notable support in the road to early access. The game even hit a respectable 78,603 peak of concurrent players three days ago. The studio’s stance will also no doubt be popular given the notoriety of its rivals – namely The Sims – when it comes to charging a small fortune for similarly small additions.
Eurogamer’s Matt Wales has been enjoying his time with Paralives, noting it’s “an incredibly promising start” in its current shape that “makes for an Instagram-ready rendition of life that feels about as far removed from the chaos of The Sims as you can get”.