It's been eight years since The Sims 4 was released – the longest that fans have had to wait for a new installation of the franchise. And with many describing the current game as "broken" due to the number of bugs, it's about time we heard something about a new instalment. And it seems The Sims 5 may finally give fans what they want.
This week The Sims creators gave us the first taste of what that might look like, revealing plans for a project currently being dubbed Project Rene, which may eventually become The Sims 5. And it looks set to reintroduce some of the freedom that has been lacking in The Sims 4 (if you play on a PC, see our pick of the best laptops for gaming).
Did you catch The Behind The Sims Summit? 🎥 Here's sneak peak of what you missed 😉 Catch up on the stream & learn about everything coming to The Sims 🥳https://t.co/zw2xtQyF8D pic.twitter.com/LMqxCV3TGIOctober 18, 2022
The brief Behind The Sims Summit saw the announcement of expansion packs, two new worlds and improved babies for The Sims 4, but Project Rene is what really got our attention. The name was apparently chosen to represent “renewal,” “renaissance,” and “rebirth," which sounds like just what The Sims franchise needs. And the event revealed a range of developments for what we assume will become The Sims 5.
Towards the end of the presentation, Lyndsay Pearson, VP of franchise creative, shared a few glimpses of the game in development. We can assume the graphics will be improved in the eventual release – and there's no sign of any Sims themselves yet).
The upcoming game will allow multiplayer building as well as the ability to edit work on different devices in real time. And it looks set to recover some of the lost freedom of The Sims 3 with colour wheels, pattern charts, and the ability to change the size of objects. The catch? It's still a few years away.
Fans have noted the apparent influence of the upcoming Paralives game, which seems like it might have spurred on The Sims team to work faster on its follow up. But the combination of improved graphics and the creative freedom of The Sims of the past seems like it could be a hit with fans, who regularly complain of bugs in The Sims 4.
"So happy to see the create a style tool finally coming back with project Rene. Also the improved babies (and hopefully family game play)," one person replied on Twitter. "FREE! MOVEMENT! TOOL! FREE PLACEMENT TOOL!" someone else exclaimed.
Not everyone's happy though. One fan wrote on Twitter: "Disappointed. Your SIMS 5 seems doesn't have any difference compared to SIMS 4, just more ability to customize the furniture."
It seems we still have quite some time to wait for The Sims 5, with the Sims 4 said to still have up to three years of life. In the meantime, you might want to check out the best PS5 games or the best Nintendo Switch games.
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