Hey all. Some of you might remember that Gallium Studios, a new game studio created by Will Wright, released a trailer a few years ago for their upcoming game named "Proxi", a new life sim game.
If you accessed the developer's webpage, you could watch the trailer through YouTube (now deleted), check out their YouTube page (now deleted), join the Discord server (deleted one random day without any previous word EDIT: I could swear the Discord server had disappeared but I have found it, only the public invite link is not working anymore, but here is a new working one to the existing Proxi Discord server), among others. Some social media sites still remain up; most of them relating to the studio directly instead of the game -- Gallium Studios' Facebook page is still up and their last post is of last year, mentioning Proxi.
Everything's being deleted and I can't understand why. The last post I can find of Gallium Studios' social media is this one on LinkedIn, which reads: "Gallium Studios is now working on an AI behavioral agent engine. This was the basis for Will's Proxi game and will now become the first game of a number of games using the engine." I have the paid version of LinkedIn, so I can see that they have downsized their workforce to about half of what they used to be in July 2024, firing almost 20 people between September 2024 and January 2025.

Does someone have any idea what's going on?

EDIT: I have found the Discord server. Someone (not a dev) posted this message a month ago on one of the server’s channels, which I think is relevant to this: “Thank you for your interest in Proxi. At this point the team is very small and extremely busy. We haven't heard much from them but I know they showed something at GDC. Right now I think they're just trying to get what they need to get the game launched, I'm not sure anymore ideas could be added at this point. As I'm sure they have a full plate in front of them.”

This usually happens to me when I'm playing with pets on life sims, then I just spiral because I'm like, wait, why am I not playing with my real pets? Similarly, why am I making these pixels paint and go outside instead of doing that irl? Like I love life sims, but sometimes I genuinely ruin it for myself without meaning to lol

Really enjoyed this

This isn’t hate towards the devs or game at all, just feedback from someone who is genuinely really excited for it. I still plan to buy and support the game because I do think it has a lot of potential! <3

I’ve been watching a lot of gameplay videos, and one thing that really stood out to me is the way paras interact with each other. I can appreciate that the devs are trying something different instead of copying the usual interaction wheel that most life sims use, and I do think it’s interesting seeing a new approach to social interactions. But from what I’ve seen so far, the system just doesn’t fully work for me personally. Instead of feeling like I’m naturally creating my own story and conversations, it feels more like the game is directing the narrative by constantly giving us a small selection of interaction cards every few seconds.

This also applies to the story cards that pop up at night, where you choose between things like letting a married para develop a crush, or helping them level up in their career. I actually think the night cards are fun, so I’m less worried about them. But they still connect to my bigger concern about the game feeling like it’s choosing the direction of the story for you instead of fully letting the player create it naturally.

A lot of life sim players treat these games like virtual dollhouses. People create their own lore, relationships, drama, and detailed characters with specific personalities. Part of the fun is creating your own unpredictable interactions and stories. Right now though, the card system feels a bit restrictive in a way that pulls me out of the immersion, because it feels less like I’m creating my own story and more like I’m choosing from a list of interactions that might not even fit the character or situation I’m trying to play.

Again, this is just my opinion based on the gameplay I’ve seen so far. I don’t necessarily dislike the interaction cards themselves, but I do think they need some work to make the experience feel more player driven and less algorithmic. What are your opinions?

EDIT: I want to preface this by saying I don’t mind it not being 100% player driven. I actually agree with a lot of people who like the idea of things not always being super easy or fully under the player’s control, like romance being more challenging. I think that kind of challenge would make the gameplay more interesting.
My main concern is just whether the limited interaction options might feel restrictive in terms of dialogue. Like if you want to do something specific in a conversation such as gossip, but the only choices available are things like flirting, talking about the weather, or complimenting an outfit, it might not always match the situation or what you want your para to say.
I do however like the fact that it will be more challenging to build relationships, and curveballs will be thrown at you.
I just think it needs a bit of work to find the right balance between being player driven, while also keeping it challenging and interesting!

A lot of people say they prefer Paralives over Inzoi purely because Paralives has a more cartoon/stylized art style while Inzoi looks too realistic. But… doesn’t Inzoi already have filters that completely change the look of the game and make it way more stylized/cartoon-like?

If that’s the only issue people have with Inzoi, then it literally has a one-click solution.What do you think?

Did any of you see how the 'cozy life sim gamers' reacted when InZoi first came out? The amount of self proclaimed 'brutally honest' YouTubers that downloaded the game, did jackshit, then immediately go "Yeah no this game ain't it."? The amount of people screaming at the top of their lungs that InZoi is AI and lifeless and ugly and uncanny and uncanny valley and whatever the hell they kept spewing out?

I already have a damn bingo card for which YouTubers are going to download the game, do jackshit for cheap comedy, then immediately go "This game isn't worth the hype". I already know the amount of people who'll buy a game that has a gigantic "EARLY ACCESS: SOME FEATURES ARE STILL NOT AVAILABLE" and still scream that 12 year old 100 Packs $1,900 dollar TS4 is 'more superior' than a literally just released game.

I can already hear the screeching of the "THIS GAME LOOKS UGLY" players that definitely don't have at least 10 gigabytes of CC and Mods just to make their sims look different. Hell, I can already see the flood of 1 star reviews from illiterate players having a tantrum that the game that literally has a gigantic "EARLY ACCESS" sign has, in fact, missing features.

Not to mention, I'm scared at what this negative backlash may entail. InZoi is still loved in their own communities, and the fact that there are actual sensible cozy life sim youtubers that reviewed it and its subsequent releases rather than reviewed it once, called it shit, then moved on with their lives.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope I'm being paranoid, but I've already seen bits and pieces of this happening on comment sections and posts on different social media platforms.

The Paralives developers have confirmed they will not forbid creators from charging for custom content or mods. Players will still be able to freely share creations through the Steam Workshop, but creators can also choose to offer their work through paid platforms like Patreon or subscription services if they want to.

Honestly, I think this is a great thing.

Custom content creators put massive amounts of time, creativity, and skill into what they make, so it makes sense that some would want compensation for their work. What I appreciate is that Paralives seems to be giving people freedom instead of trying to control how everyone should create or enjoy the game.

Compared to The Sims, where permanent paywalls for CC aren’t allowed and “early access” became the workaround, Paralives feels much more open and community-driven.

A lot of The Sims experience has been carried by modders and CC creators for years, yet the policies around creators have always felt restrictive and inconsistent.

I also never liked how parts of The Sims community heavily criticized creators who permanently paywalled their content while simultaneously benefiting from the insane amount of work those creators put into the game. It always felt selective to me.

There are plenty of Sims-related rules, issues, and practices that people ignore all the time, but the moment a creator decided they wanted permanent compensation for their work, suddenly that became the line people cared deeply about.

The community often seemed to pick and choose which rules mattered depending on what personally benefited them, and I always found that mindset selfish and unfair toward creators.

Paralives allowing both free sharing and paid options feels balanced. Nobody is being forced to pay for CC, and creators who want to monetize their work have the choice to do so. It shows confidence in their community instead of trying to tightly control it for corporate benefit.

For a life simulation game that’s still developing, I honestly think that’s a fantastic start.

TLDR

Paralives allowing both free and paid CC/mods IMO is a good thing because it gives creators freedom and respects the time and effort they put into their work. Unlike The Sims community, where creators with permanent paywalls often got heavily criticized despite CC carrying a huge part of the game’s popularity, Paralives feels more open and community-driven by letting players and creators choose how they want to engage with content.

I've seen A LOT of people saying Paralives is more like a management sim rather than a life sim. Why? For me it looks a lot like The Sims + a little bit of Stardew Valley. I would like to understand why people think like that. I'm not saying they are wrong, I just don't understand. Thanks in advance.

reason cited “Console players are generally accustomed to receiving a more complete and polished experience from the very beginning, without major setbacks during the process.”