“The project started out as small prototypes to showcase new ideas for the house building part of the game, which has always been my favorite in The Sims,” says Massé. Massé is now lead developer on the Paralives team, which is funded by a very successful Patreon that, at the time of writing, pulls in $40,000 a month. Alex Massé began the project in 2018 after realizing that the life simulator genre was filled with games like Stardew Valley, but there was nothing else quite like The Sims. It’s no surprise that when a genuine competitor to the Sims franchise emerged, it would pique the interest of players. Expansion packs are another contentious topic - in order to collect all of the DLC for The Sims 4, a player has to shell out hundreds of dollars. The Sims 4 is also getting long in the tooth with its initial launch all the way back in 2014, this game is coming up on being a decade old, whereas its predecessors had a lifespan closer to five years. Sims fans can’t even agree on what game to play a significant chunk of fans stay with prior games in the series like The Sims 3 or even The Sims 2. The Sims fan base has never been a monolith some people like the drama that springs up in a neighborhood, whereas others are there to obsess over the furniture and layout of the perfect office.
