Inevitably, some time after the launch of The Sims 4, everyone began whispering to each other, “When will we hear about The Sims 5?” Well, Maxis has just revealed what appears to be the next generation of The Sims, but the label “The Sims 5″ may not be entirely accurate.
The working title is “Project Rene” for now and was first revealed during today’s “Behind the Sims Summit”. The name Rene was chosen for its references to words like renewal, renaissance, and rebirth “to represent the developer’s renewed commitment to the bright future of The Sims,” according to a press release.
Is it Sims 5? We do not know yet
Project Rene is in a very, very early stage and will probably not be available for several years. So we don’t have many details on what it will actually include, but we do know that it’s still The Sims at heart.
During the stream, we took a look at some furniture customization at a level of detail previously impossible in Sims games. This included a demonstration of how to edit bed furniture piece by piece, adjusting elements such as the color and pattern of the bedspread and the design and shape of the footboard. We’ve seen a similar level of detailed editing on a sofa, including changing the color and design of individual cushions and the overall shape of various elements across the individual piece.
We’ve also seen the same game file copied to both PC and mobile, with Maxis revealing that Project Rene will be playable on multiple supported devices. It will also work both as a solo experience and in collaboration with others.
“The Sims has defined life simulation gaming since its inception and has grown into an incredible platform for creativity and self-expression,” said Lyndsay Pearson, vice president of Franchise Creative for The Sims.
“Today marks the beginning of our journey over the next few years as we work on this next game and creative platform currently titled Project Rene. We’re building on the same foundation that made The Sims so compelling for generations of gamers, and pushing the boundaries to create new experiences. We will have much more to share as we continue to progress the game’s development and milestones along the way.”
The future of Sims 4
Maxis has promised to continue updating the community over the next few years, and early access will be offered to small groups over time.
Alongside the reveal of Project Rene, other interesting tidbits from the presentation include a partnership with Overwolf for a new CurseForge mod manager and user-generated content discovery platform; a promise of monthly updates for The Sims 4 now that the game is free to play, and a few brief visual teasers of two future Sims expansion packs. We also got a taste of toddlers finally coming to The Sims 4 in 2023 (and not just stuck in cribs anymore).
Our review of The Sims 4 at launch said it was “a deep and complex game when it comes to sim interactions, with plenty of entertaining emotional potential,” but at the time it just didn’t feel like it was realizing its full potential. That was in 2014, and a plethora of paid expansion packs and free updates since then have filled in much of what was initially missing. Earlier this year, after years of community requests, Maxis added sexual orientation as a feature and plans to continue refining how it works over time to include more and more orientations and genders.
Project Rene does not have a release date yet.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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