Cancel all your plans to take off work for whenever The Sims 5 launches, because it’s not currently planned for development, Electronic Arts announced today.
Those plans can be replaced, however, with an upcoming playtest for The Sims‘ “Project Rene,” which has been called “the next evolution of The Sims,” and is based around a multiplayer component. The next Sims game, which many considered to be The Sims 5, will not be that at all.
“The way to think about it is, historically, The Sims franchise started with Sims 1 and then Sims 2, 3 and 4, and they were seen as replacements for the previous products,” Sims GM Kate Gorman said to Variety. “What we’re really working with our community on is this a new era of The Sims. We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe.”
So while The Sims 4 will continue to get new updates and expansions for the foreseeable future, “Project Rene” is technically the next Sims game, akin to a spin-off. Or, as Gorman said, one of “more ways to experience The Sims on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, and lots of great offerings within this universe.”
“Continuing its development alongside other exciting new projects within The Sims franchise, Project Rene is focused on building ways for friends to meet, connect, and share while playing together in an all-new world,” EA said in a new blog post titled The Future of The Sims, detailing what’s next for the nearly 25-year-old franchise.
Sign ups for the Rene playtests, which begin Fall 2024 and will give “an early look at a multiplayer experience that explores joining friends and other players at a shared location,” can be done on EA’s website.
