For many Sims fans, this year has been a chance to look back on the franchise. After all, the game that started it all celebrated its 25th birthday this year. But believe it or not, the newest game, The Sims 4, came out over 10 years ago. EA still releases frequent expansion packs and new content for the game, but many fans feel the cracks are showing at this point. EA has made comments regarding the future of a The Sims 5 game in the past. Recently, the developer once again delivered bad news for fans hoping for a shiny new game.
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For a long time, Simmers have hoped for news of a brand new installment, The Sims 5. In fact, it was long rumored that the mysterious Project Rene would eventually be revealed as The Sims 5. However, EA has confirmed that Project Rene is something different, a project that will live alongside The Sims 4, at least for the foreseeable future. Even so, many Simmers hope that EA will eventually realize it’s time for a full upgrade. Alas, recent comments confirm that The Sims 5 is still a dream that belongs only to the fans.
In a recent interview with Variety, EA Entertainment’s president shared the developer’s future plans for big franchises. The conversation wasn’t solely focused on The Sims. But, given that The Sims is one of the biggest franchises under EA’s belt, it naturally came up. And Miele’s comments confirm that the developer still intends to keep supporting The Sims 4 rather than putting out a The Sims 5 follow-up.
EA Confirms The Sims 5 Is Still Definitely Not Happening
Miele’s comments confirm that EA has no plans to replace the current Sims 4 ecosystem with a full-on sequel. As Miele told Variety, “We put out over 85 content packs over the last 10 years on The Sims 4, and so resetting that is not player-friendly.”
And honestly, Miele has a point. Earlier renditions like The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 had shorter lifespans, and, therefore fewer content packs. The prior model involved slowly releasing updated versions of similar content over time. That meant waiting for The Sims 4 to catch up to things like having Pets and, most recently, Fairies. From that perspective, continuing to support the current game does make some sense.
But for many, The Sims 4‘s ongoing glitches and bugs suggest it could use being rebuilt from the ground up. That’s largely where the desire for a fresh start in The Sims 5 comes from. But fans shouldn’t expect EA to take this route. Instead, they can look forward to new projects and experiments with The Sims 4. In addition to new packs like the recent Enchanted By Nature, EA plans to introduce a multiplayer element to The Sims. This, most likely, will be a part of the long-anticipated Project Rene.
Miele mentioned the multiplayer direction for The Sims during the Variety interview, as well, noting it’s “one of the biggest growth opportunities for Electronic Arts” at the moment. The team behind The Sims is reportedly “hard at work and feverishly developing” its multiplayer platform. From Miele’s comments and prior info on Project Rene, it’s likely this would be separate and exist alongside The Sims 4. But not as a true sequel or replacement, hence being far from The Sims 5.
For now, future updates to The Sims 4 and an eventual multiplayer something for The Sims franchise are what we have to look forward to. The company also recently released The Sims Board Game, a new tabletop take on the beloved life sim. So while the franchise is very much alive and well, a straightforward sequel like we’ve had in the past is still not in EA’s plans.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
