In a sudden reveal, EA has confirmed that a sequel to the life-simulation giant The Sims 4 is not in active development. Fans have been expecting a sequel to the now 10-year-old sim title for quite some time now, and EA itself has hinted at a next-gen project in the past. According to EA vice president and general manager of The Sims franchise Kate Gorman, The Sims 4 is still the focus.
"What we’re really working with our community on is this a new era of ‘The Sims,'" says Gorman, speaking to Variety. "We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe."
When directly asked about not releasing The Sims 5 in the future, Gorman had said the focus is to keep updating the now free-to-play fourth entry and keep player's content and progress alive. As fans of previous entries should know, a new game would mean starting over with expansions and features too:
"What this means is that we will continue to bring HD simulation experience and what people would want from a ‘5’ — but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to start you over, reset all your progress, and really feel like you’re going to lose all of that amazing play you put into ‘4,’. I think as we think about the future of it, we want you to continue all of those families and generations. Those creations are your progress, your attachment."
While the game already sells expansions and small DLC packs filled with new features and cosmetic content developed by Maxis, a new variant called Creator Kits will be landing soon. These community-created content will be published by EA as paid packs in-game, while also giving the original authors a cut of the proceeds when players purchase them.
One of the biggest features of the next generation of The Sims was touted to be online features, letting players join each other in their Sims worlds. It seems that project is still being kept alive, though it's unclear if it will be implemented into The Sims 4 or arrive as a spin-off multiplayer experience. A playtest for Project Rene will happen in fall of 2024, and sign ups can be found here.
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