Paralives’ recent big announcement that they’re delaying the early access to the game until May 2026, and the upload of their first public livestream displaying some of the game’s features, has left many with mixed reactions – some hopeful, some critical.

As we’re now at the date when Paralives was scheduled to release, and people have had time to digest the news that the game isn’t coming anytime soon, we’re going to break down for you the latest reactions to the Paralives news, as well as people’s thoughts on the recent public livestream.

For other Paralives content, you can also read our previous articles, covering all the latest updates and announcements.

In case you missed it

In a recent post across social media and an update to the game’s Steam page, the team announced the pushing back of the release untli 25th May 2026 – six months after it was originally scheduled.

Read the full announcement by Alex and the Paralives team here.

In the delay announcement, they also revealed that there would be a livestream demonstration of Paralives live mode to show off the currently available features, which people again were both excited and apprehensive of since the announcement came at the same time as the delayed release date.

Community reactions

Many people, including our own readers, expressed disappointment about the delay and worry about the current state of the game.

Reddit: disappointed, but not surprised

In the comments on a Reddit thread discussing the Paralives delay on the official Paralives Reddit page and other threads in the LifeSimulation subreddit, fans and supporters shared candid thoughts and feelings about the delay, ranging from disappointment and apathy to hope that this delay will help address the issues identified in early playtests.

Talking about the recent live mode preview of Paralives, one Redditor also discussed worries over the actual gameplay, saying it was “lacking in any kind of imaginative spark or unique vision from the developers”.

Reddit thread scepticism and calling ethics into question

Because Paralives is fully community-funded and has already earned over $2.7M, and has a steady monthly income stream coming from subscribers, some feel this approach of delaying the early access could be ethically questionable.

While delays aren’t inherently problematic, concerns were raised that the way the announcement was delivered felt inappropriate. In the same message announcing a six-month delay, the team promoted Patreon tiers, highlighted paid benefits, and released the only live gameplay footage exclusively behind a paywall, leaving non-patrons to wait two weeks for any update.

As of now this thread has 645 upvotes, showing that lots of people agree with the concerns shared. Many of the comments on the thread also shared eloquent thoughts and different perspectives.

Instagram: “They may be doing their best but I need better”

Comments on the Paralives Instagram page have been a mix of scepticism, passionate fans excited for more updates and praising how cute the new features look and supporting the decision to delay the release until updates are made, and, unfortunately, verbal abuse of the team.

X: Lots of positivity and excitement

On the Paralives X posts, the community reactions have been generally very supportive, with most people leaving comments about how excited they are for the game to release and to see more updates.

In comparison to other social media platforms, there are only a small minority of comments highlighting worries or scepticism over game features, and most of the interactions on the most recent X posts seem really positive.

BlueSky: Lots of support, a little criticism

The comments under any recent Paralives post on Bluesky are very positive and complimentary, with people being understanding about the delay and praising the updates released on the platform. However, there are still some critical posters, claiming that toxic positivity amongst supporters is not helpful and that scepticism shouldn’t be so quickly dismissed.

YouTube comments: Excited to see more and understanding of the delay to release

The comments underneath the latest livestream showed that Paralives supporters have a real appetite to see more from the team and are already talking about the kinds of Paras they want to make.

People in the comments on YouTube also seem to be much more sympathetic towards the devs with regard to the decision to delay release, saying they’d rather see a delay than play a broken or unfinished game.

What do people think about the Paralives updates?

In the sea of comments and amongst the sceptics, there is still a lot of support for Paralives and for the development team. However, the sceptical voices are also multiplying and have a real presence in the community now.

From looking at the community reactions across the different posts made by the Paralives team and different subreddits, the general feeling seems to be that the bones of the game are there, but it is in need of being fleshed out. The general theme seems to be that people are disappointed over the delay, but not surprised.

Gameplay revealed in the latest livestream of live mode seems to have lifted community spirits but while people are happy to see a public post showing the latest state of the game, people continue to take it with a grain of salt and keep hope that fixes are being implemented.

If previews available to the public – ie non-patrons – look unpolished or show more routing or performance issues, scepticism may harden, and with people already comparing Paralives to games like Life by You and doubting if the game will ever be ready to be released, real care needs to be taken to manage expectations and still keep people excited about the early access release in May 2026.

What do you think about Paralives? Have the latest updates and public livestream filled you with hope or doubt? Let us know below.