EA and Maxis are seemingly moving away from plans to create The Sims 5, with a new franchise roadmap revealing The Sims 4 will remain the “foundational Sims experience” in the years ahead. While there are a number of major Sims game projects in the work, they won’t be numbered entries in the series – rather, they will allow for new gameplay experiences.
Per Kate Gorman, EA Vice President and General Manager of The Sims, plans for The Sims 5 have been put on hold indefinitely, as EA wants players to be able to maintain their gameplay and progress from The Sims 4.
“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,” Gorman recently told 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.”
“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.”
Read: The Sims 4’s latest expansions will focus on life and death
The Sims has a new franchise roadmap
In a new blog, EA has further detailed its plans, breaking down upcoming Sims projects into a range of categories. For a breakdown of what to expect, here’s everything revealed in quick bite form:
- The Sims will be adapted for film, with Amazon MGM Studios leading production alongside LuckyChap and Vertigo Entertainment. Loki‘s Kate Herron is set to direct, and will co-write the film alongside Briony Redman (Doctor Who)
- The Sims 4 is getting new Creator Kits. These kits contain objects, clothing, and other accessories designed entirely by community creators. They’ll start releasing from November 2024.
- The Sims Labs is being established for players to test new Sims games, features, and experiences. Those keen can sign up to be selected for this program.
- Project Rene will be tested in a small, invite-only session in Spring 2024 [Southern Hemisphere]. This will give “an early look at a multiplayer experience that explores joining friends and other players at a shared location.” Notably, Project Rene is still considered a separate game to The Sims 4 and The Sims 5. It remains unclear what it actually is.
- The Sims 4 will be modernised and improved.
This dot point deserves its own break out. As EA and Maxis have made clear, The Sims 5 is not currently in development, despite frequent criticism from players that The Sims 4 is now over a decade old and is looking and feeling its age.
EA and Maxis have seemingly acknowledged this, and are currently working on modernising and fixing the game to ensure it remains fully playable and polished for modern audiences. Earlier in 2024, a dedicated team was established to “invest in the core game experience” and tackle the major technical issues dogging the game. To date, this team has addressed a range of core issues, and it will continue to release new updates every two months or so.
In addition to fixes, The Sims 4 team is also now working to create “meaningful new features” that will introduce new ways to play. That includes creating new in-game events with exclusive rewards, with these encouraging daily play. (For what it’s worth, there has been some pushback against these events on social media, with some players expressing concerns about live service aspects creeping into The Sims 4.)
Beyond these developments, EA and Maxis have confirmed The Sims will be expanded significantly in the coming years, to “better serve the diverse needs of the growing number of Simmers around the world.” A “variety of games and experiences that will touch different categories across the simulated life genre” are currently being developed, with a view to reach new players.
We’ll have to wait to see what these plans entail, and how The Sims 4 will further transform in future.
