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Sims 4 rival Paralives sets release window, “will never have paid DLC”

The Sims rival Paralives launches in 2025, and lead developer Alex Massé confirms the life game will “never have paid DLC” once it releases.

Paralives sets 2025 launch window, will "never have paid DLC" - A woman wearing glasses with purple-tipped, shoulder-length brown hair.

With The Sims 4 now almost a decade old, one of the most exciting rivals to EA’s long-standing champion of the life sim genre has outlined its plans for launch. Paralives is now coming in 2025, and in a new gameplay overview video the team behind the Patreon-funded upcoming PC game, helmed by team lead Alex Massé, states that it will never put out paid DLC after launch, committing to “only free expansions.”

The Paralives release date is still some way off, then, although it’s good to have confirmation that it won’t be here until 2025 so we’re not waiting on tenterhooks for a possible earlier launch. Paralives is already shaping up to be a very strong contender to the ranks of the best life games, so waiting a little longer doesn’t seem like too much to ask. To help sate our appetites in the meantime, there’s a new seven-minute gameplay video showing off the live mode.

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Along with the reveal, the studio announces at the end of the video, “Paralives will never have paid DLCs. Only free expansions.” Conversely, while The Sims 4 is now a free PC game, it has ample quantities of stuff packs, game packs, and expansion packs to buy offering all manner of additional designs, locations, items, and experiences, from Pets, University, and Parenthood to Werewolves and even Star Wars.

Paralives is set to launch in 2025 via early access on Steam. Its developer says to expect “bugs and missing features,” but there’ll certainly be plenty to look forward to. You can head to the store page now to follow its progress and add it to your wishlist ahead of release.

With the launch still some way off then, we’ve rounded up the best relaxing games to keep you soothed and satisfied as we wait for Paralives and more of the best upcoming PC games in 2024 and beyond.

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