The Sims developer Maxis is kicking off the brand new yr with an replace on what its complete deal is, after lots of rumors and considerations concerning the future of the franchise. Ans as a component of that, it appears to be teasing the “subsequent evolution” of single-player PC and console The Sims video games…even as its long-touted “subsequent technology” of The Sims, Project Rene, is relegated to a mobile-only social spin-off.
This comes from a lengthy blog post on the EA website, through which Maxis speaks at size about its philosophy round The Sims within the coming yr. Most of it’s fairly mission statement-y, however within the center, we get a glimpse of what’s deliberate for the long run of The Sims.
For 3 years now, Maxis has been teasing one thing referred to as Project Rene. Initially billed as the long run of The Sims that might exist throughout PC and cellular, EA however refused to name it The Sims 5. Since 2022, there have been a number of closed playtests, and the suggestions has step by step soured as Project Rene more and more began to appear like a reasonably fundamental cellular recreation. In the meantime, whereas The Sims 4 neighborhood stays sturdy, there hasn’t been a lot dialogue on what The Sims 5 would possibly appear like, or if the console and PC base ought to even count on something new in any respect. As just lately as final August, EA Leisure president Laura Miele insisted that it would not be “player-friendly” to launch one when the neighborhood had already invested a lot time and cash into The Sims 4.
Which is why the wording on this weblog submit is each thrilling and nerve-wracking as a The Sims fan. The submit separates out its plans for “The Sims” on PC and console, and Project Rene. For PC and console, Maxis reaffirms its dedication to new content material for The Sims 4, and provides that “Single-player PC and console experiences will at all times be a component of our future, with greater than half of our international improvement workforce devoted to The Sims 4 and the following evolution. Extra information within the coming months!”
That wording, “the following evolution,” is large. Whereas it is not precisely “The Sims 5,” it is the primary crumb we have gotten in years that we’d see one thing like one ultimately. What’s much more promising is that EA is designating Project Rene as a social, multiplayer recreation that is mobile-first. That is disappointing for many who had been hoping Project Rene could be an thrilling new future, nevertheless it seems like that is nonetheless going to exist in some trend alongside regardless of the precise new evolution is.
Nonetheless, Maxis has a tough street forward. Miele is appropriate that one of the most important points with a brand new The Sims recreation is that gamers have spent tons of cash already on enlargement packs for The Sims 4, and traditionally model new The Sims video games have felt woefully function incomplete once they launch with no such packs. That was the case with The Sims 4, which launched to comparatively weak opinions as gamers adjusted to the shock of options they’d come to get used to – pets, interactive youngsters, climate – immediately gone, till a brand new paid enlargement pack was launched.
It could behoove Maxis to determine all this out, as a result of The Sims 4 is over a decade previous now, and beginning to present its age. What’s extra, a quantity of potential rivals have come out of the woodwork in recent times, together with Krafton’s inZOI and the indie Paralives, each in early entry.
The most up-to-date The Sims 4 enlargement pack was Journey Awaits, which launched in October of final yr.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.