EA and Maxis are shifting plans away from creating The Sims 5 to focus on a franchise roadmap for The Sims 4 and other new titles. EA Games says The Sims 4 will remain the foundational Sims experience for the years ahead with no direct sequel planned.
Maxis, however, is working on new Sims games. These won’t be numbered titles in the series. Instead, they will offer new gameplay experiences and act as spin-offs to the formula. The Sims 4, on the other hand, will get more expansions and content with a multiplayer expansion planned for somewhere down the road.
This means that The Sims 5 has been put on hold indefinitely. EA says players want to maintain their gameplay progress in The Sims 4 and releasing a sequel would mean starting fresh. It would also release as a much smaller scope of a game compared to The Sims 4 and all the DLC available now.
EA says the company looked at The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 as replacement products and it would be difficult to release The Sims 5 without approaching it the same way. The new roadmap plans to add projects to The Sims universe without taking away from the existing content.
Kate Gorman, EA Vice President and General Manager of The Sims says:
“With that, 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. So absolutely, we’re still continuing to support The Sims 4 more than ever. Still continue to deliver expansion packs and updates and fixes. But what this is to say is, the way we’re going to do things going forward is a little different.”
At the moment, new The Sims projects include the film adaptation at Amazon, The Sims 4 Creator Kits set to launch in November, The Sims Labs – a new platform where players can test out new Sims games, features and experiences, and Project Rene.
Project Rene is where things get a bit fuzzy though. The game is considered a separate project of The Sims 4 and is not The Sims 5. However, it is meant to be a multiplayer Sims game where players do everything they would usually do in The Sims 4. It is unclear where Project Rene will fit in.
Apart from that, Maxis and EA plan to keep supporting The Sims 4 going forward. The company teased that the project would get modernized and polished so it feels like a new experience and welcomes new players. The Sims 4 team is also working on new in-game events and exclusive rewards which encourage daily play. However, the fanbase has pushed back against these mechanics in fear of The Sims 4 turning into a live service project.
