EA isn’t working on The Sims 5, instead planning to continue releasing content for The Sims 4 while working on the next iteration of the franchise, a free-to-play multiplayer Sims game called Project Rene. Entertainment president Laura Miele explained the decision in an interview with Variety, claiming that forcing fans to start over from scratch wouldn’t be “player-friendly.”
“What I wouldn’t want to have happen is you to have to start from day zero and start from scratch and give up all of the things that you have created, give up all of the content that you’ve purchased over the years,” Miele said, referencing The Sims 4‘s massive collection of DLC packs, which costs nearly $2,000 if all packs were purchased separately. “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 not a good idea for our community.”
Instead of starting over, Miele says EA will continue to release DLC packs for The Sims 4, while Project Rene will be a different experience entirely, with a heavier focus on multiplayer mechanics.
“What we’re doing is upgrading and refreshing all this technology, and we’ll be adding modes of play — but we also are going to be creating and updating the base technology and the base user experience on the core game,” Miele said. “So you’re going to have this life-simulation, you’re going to have multiplayer capabilities, we are going to have mobile expressions of this. We’re doing cozy games as well and [there is] more to come on that. […] I see The Sims as a significant ecosystem, and a universe of multiple ‘Sims’ experiences that we have to build on.”
EA still hasn’t given the public an in-depth look at Project Rene, though some players who have been chosen to participate in ongoing playtests have spilled the beans on social media, sharing screenshots and footage from the game’s current build. Unlike The Sims 4, which features various fictional environments that are clearly inspired by real-world locales, playtesters say Project Rene‘s description specifically mentions a “Parisian neighborhood full of unique activities and stylish rewards” where players can visit each other.
Miele also provided an update on The Sims movie, which is currently in production, saying that the collaboration between Amazon MGM Studios and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment was the “right creative partnership” to finally get a movie adaptation off the ground. Amazon MGM and LuckyChap haven’t yet released a trailer or release date for the film, but Miele is confident The Sims will work well as a film adaptation.
“It’s going to be so full-circle and so fulfilling to bring content in a linear way and an interactive way, simultaneously, and even have it adapt to fans and how things are going,” Miele said of the upcoming film. “When we have a couple of ideas about how we would go to market with a movie and a couple of different expressions, I just think the opportunity is so ripe.”
EA’s desire to release Sims content that’s both collaborative and interactive doesn’t just extend to the film — the publisher recently released a Simlish music video as part of a collaboration with FKA Twigs, and is currently holding a contest to see who can write the best Sims 4 fanfic.