Update: Variety has since clarified that The Sims 4 is not getting multiplayer. Project Rene will be the new multiplayer-focused spin-off in the vein of The Sims Online.
As reported byVariety, Maxis will not be developing The Sims 5, instead focusing its efforts on expandingThe Sims 4even further.
EA vice president and The Sims general manager Kate Gorman explained that rather than starting over from scratch again and ‘replacing’ past games, “You’ll see there are more ways to experience The Sims on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, and lots of great offerings within this universe.”
One such offering is Project Rene,which was up until now assumed to be the next mainline Sims game, but it turns out that this is actually a separate project that will bring multiplayer to the series. However, Variety claims that The Sims 4 willalsoget a multiplayer mode in a future update, so it’s unclear what exactly Project Rene is and where it fits into this new world. Thankfully, EA teased that we’ll find out more soon enough.
EA Will “Move Beyond” Sims Sequels
Instead of The Sims 5, the series “will move beyond linear, sequential releases and offer more options for players than ever before,” according to theofficial blog post. This doesn’t just mean support for The Sims 4, but also “a variety of games and experiences that will touch different categories across the simulated life genre including cozy games, social and collaborative based gameplay, [and] mobile narrative games”.
Gorman added that EA “will continue to bring HD simulation experience and what people would want from a 5”. What this will actually look like, we’ll just have to wait and see.
It’s a huge shift for the series, sticking with the foundations laidten years ago in 2014, and we still have yet to truly uncover what Project Rene is or what these spin-offs might be that EA discussed, but for now, all sights are set on expanding the game we already have in front of us.
The Sims 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Developed by Maxis, The Sims 4 is a life simulation game in the vein of its predecessors. It launched in 2014, becoming one of the biggest-selling PC games of that year. In 2022, the base game became free-to-play, while paid DLC continues to be released on a regular basis.
