The Sims 5 not happening as EA moves "beyond linear, sequential Sims releases"
But Project Renee is alive and well.
EA has announced plans to move "beyond linear, sequential Sims releases" that'll see it forego a direct Sims 4 "replacement" - that is, a The Sims 5 - in favour of a new approach enabling players to keep their progress between titles and "really [have] an ongoing experience".
EA's initially discussed its new strategy for the long-running life sim series in an extensive blog post, but The Sims franchise general manager Kate Gorman later shared additional context in an interview with Variety. "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 explained. "[But now,] we are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we're only going to be adding to our universe."
"What this means is that we will continue to bring HD simulation experience and what people would want from a 5," Gorman continued, "but it doesn't mean that we're going to start you over... 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. We don't want to reset your progress. And so it's not about... what the numbers are in the games, but know that the future of the franchise looks more like keeping your progress, keeping things across titles, and really having an ongoing experience, and not a start-and-stop experience between products."
And while the now ten-year-old The Sims 4 will continue to be "a foundational Sims experience" - receiving new expansions, updates, fixes, and "modernisation" - EA says it's also focused on creating games that'll "touch different categories across the simulated life genre including cosy games, social and collaborative based gameplay, [and] mobile narrative games". Notably, Project Rene - the "next generation Sims game and creative platform" EA announced in 2022 - is also still in the works.
Two years on, Project Rene remains rather nebulous, but EA's latest update describes it as being focused on "building ways for friends to meet, connect, and share while playing together in an all-new world". Quite how that will ultimately differ from a The Sims 5 remains to be seen, but EA says it'll be holding a small invite-only play test via its new Sims Labs initiative this autumn, "giving an early look at a multiplayer experience that explores joining friends and other players at a shared location." Sign ups are happening now.
Beyond the promise of "meaningful new features and base game updates" for The Sims 4 - alongside continuing quality assurance and game optimisation efforts - EA has announced new The Sims 4 Creator Kits and confirmed the previously rumoured Sims movie. Creator Kits, as their name implies, are new bits of DLC designed and built by community creators then published by EA, with the first arriving in November 2024.
As for The Sims movie, it's being developed alongside Amazon MGM Studios, with Loki and Sex Education director Kate Herron at the helm. Herron will co-write the script with Briony Redman - the pair having previously written the Rogue episode of this year's Doctor Who. "It's still too early to share more about the movie," EA adds in its announcement, "but stay tuned for updates as we mark our 25th birthday next year!"
Before all that, The Sims 4's release schedule continues this Thursday, 19th September, with the launch of its Artist Studio and Storybook Nursery DLC, while the still-mysterious Life and Death Expansion Pack arrives on 31st October. Additionally, EA previously confirmed MySims and MySims Kingdom are heading to Switch as a two-game bundle on 19th November.