EA has opened the doors to give a peek at what’s next for The Sims, which is currently under the working title of Project Rene. The next entry, interestingly, will add cross-play support and some multiplayer elements that will let players collaborate in new ways.
The Sims is one of the top simulation franchises, and with EA making The Sims 4 free to download and play as of today, they’re looking ahead. While The Sims 4 will continue getting updates, including infants in 2023, along with packs for sale, the new game is already in development, but won’t be here for some time.
As revealed on a new stream today, “The title “Project Rene” was chosen to be reminiscent of words like renewal, renaissance and rebirth to represent the developer’s renewed commitment for The Sims’ bright future.” This new version will Apply the development team over the next few years, according to the announcement today, but there are a couple of principles that they're working with, with an emphasis on new experiences and community.
The new experiences include players being able to play with persistent cross-platform play. So maybe you're playing on PC but then you switch to a console, you won't have to start over. Players will also have a chance to play solo as usual, or collaborate with other players. It will be possible to invite a friend over and decorate a house together. The building phase will also be cross-platform. Some of the traditional building phases and customization will be growing, including be able to customize the furniture more than ever before. The preview also showed asymmetrical rooms.
The Sims is also known for having a large creative community, and EA’s announcements included a new partnership with Overwolf that will become a curated mod space.
However, it’s the more in-depth customization, cross-platform support, and multiplayer options that are looking like potential game changers. The Sims Online existed, and the mobile The Sims FreePlay are also updated, but this will bring those community features to life in new ways.
