EA is promising the ‘next evolution’ of single-player Sims games, which will be separate to the long-delayed Project Rene.
Despite EA saying it would not make The Sims 5, opting instead to continue supporting The Sims 4, the last few months have seen the community awash with rumours that suggest that plan has changed.
Initially, it was claimed that The Sims 4 would see an upgraded remaster, only for it to be later rumoured that EA is planning a new single-player game, with the next batch of Sims 4 DLC set to be its last.
The DLC aspect of that rumour is not true but the talk of a new single-player game is, with EA confirming that a new, currently unnamed, title is in development.
EA has avoided using the name The Sims 5, but a new blog post on the official Sims website states that developer Maxis is dedicating itself to the ‘next evolution’ of single-player Sims games.
‘Single-player PC and console experiences will always be a part of our future, with more than half of our global development team dedicated to The Sims 4 and the next evolution,’ says EA, before teasing more news will follow in the coming months.
This is interesting considering the reason EA said it wouldn’t make The Sims 5 was because it would require uprooting the Sims 4 playerbase and forcing them to start from scratch. This prompted EA to shift to a free-to-play model for The Sims and making money through DLC.
So, what could this ‘next evolution’ be if not The Sims 5? Perhaps it is simply an upgraded Sims 4 that boasts better graphics and runs on a newer, more powerful engine. The game is over 10 years old, so it is showing its age.
Or perhaps it’s something more distinct from the usual Sims gameplay, which wouldn’t be that surprising as the series has had numerous spin-offs in the past.
Whatever the case, EA refutes the idea that it’s ending DLC support for The Sims 4, saying: ‘We’ll continue to deliver content and updates to The Sims 4 and we are committed to improving the experience.’
As for Project Rene, which remains in the playtesting phase, EA says that it has ‘evolved to focus on social multiplayer play, offering a more direct way for friends to share creativity together’, in response to player feedback.
Project Rene was always billed as a multiplayer spin-off, but it sounds like EA is keen to make this as distinctive from the traditional single-player games as possible: ‘It is not the successor to The Sims 4 and is a separate experience from any future deep, single player life simulation experience.’
For what it’s worth, one of the recent rumours alleged that Project Rene was meant to have a single-player component, but that’s now been split off to be its own game. Maybe this is what EA is hinting at, as the ‘next evolution.’
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Project Rene is also now being described as ‘mobile-first,’ meaning it will only be available for mobile phones to begin with. Exactly how long you’ll have to wait for a PC/console release is anyone’s guess, but that may not happen at all if it’s not a success.
Lastly, EA assures fans that the series’ core values are unchanged, as a response to concerns regarding the company’s new ownership.
As a reminder, EA’s set to be bought out by a consortium of investors. Among them is the Public Investment Fund, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s royal family. Given Saudi Arabia’s stance on LGBT rights, some players fear that the buyout could have an influence on the inclusion of any LGBT related content in The Sims.
EA doesn’t mention the buyout in its blog post, only saying, ‘Our Sims team’s creative control, guided by our values of inclusivity, choice, creativity, community, and play, has not changed. These values inspire the decisions we make each and every day as we plan for today, tomorrow, and the future.’
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