Contenuti
Intro
The Sims 5 has finally been announced and, to our surprise, Electronic Arts has already begun to give small previews of the features of the next main Sims game.
Soon after making the base Sims 4 game free-to-play and promising continuous gameplay updates and DLC, Maxis studios also made it known that it is actively developing The Sims 5, although that may not be its final name.
Unlike the development of past Sims games, Maxis is making an effort to show some of the features in development well in advance.
So although there are still many open questions about the next Sims game, some of the speculations of fans of the franchise have already been answered.
Here’s everything we know so far about The Sims 5, including new (and returning) features and the latest leaks.
Will The Sims 5 be called “Project Kidney”?
For now, yes, but probably not forever. As Maxis explained, Project Rene is simply the code name for the next Sims game.
Usually these names are used internally to talk about a game before it has been announced, but sometimes developers use them publicly as well.
Presumably, the next Sims game will be called neither“Project Rene” nor “The Sims 5” and will have a completely different name that communicates the way Maxis has referred to it as the“next generation” of Sims and a“ creativeplatform.”
The Sims 5: Release Date
Electronic Arts has not yet given a release date or year for the next Sims game.
When it was first announced as “Project Rene” inOctober 2022, Maxis said it intended to share an inside look at development “over the next few years.”
So we can safely assume that The Sims 5 will not be launched before 2024.
The Sims 5: Will it come out in early access?
Maxis is preparing for some Early Access periods for The Sims 5 as the studio reaches out to the community to help guide the development of Project Rene.
“Over the next two years, we will continue to share updates on Project Rene with all of you. We will share works-in-progress, explorations, sneak-peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and we will begin opening early access to Project Rene software to small groups over time,” says the game’s creative vice president..
This is not Alpha or Beta access in the traditional sense, but it appears that there will be opportunities for the community to contribute to the development of the game, which is great news for fans.
For more information, the developer said to stay tuned to its social channels and official website.
The Sims 5: A long-term project.
Another detail to know about The Sims 5 is that Maxis expects it to be around for some time after it launches.
The Sims 4 was launched in 2014, and it seems that Electronic Arts expects the “next generation” of The Sims to stick around at least as long.
So far, during the Project Rene reveal, creative vice president Lyndsay Pearson said, “I am privileged to help take the franchise into the next decade and beyond.”
The Sims 5: A first look at gameplay
As Maxis said, the footage shown during the Behind the Sims Summit in October 2022 was still in development and probably did not reflect the final gameplay or visual style. However, we saw a small clip of the initial game.
Here are some of the features that have been revealed:
- Sims 3’s “create your own style” tool is back
- Cross-platform multiplayer construction mode
- Ability to load a custom selection of furniture layouts into the game
- Modification of modular furniture
- Multi-axis rotation of the camera
The return of the “Create-A-Style” is definitely a win for fans of the “build” mode, especially with the addition of the modular pieces.
In the initial reveal, we saw how players will be able to swap pieces such as the headboard and footboard of a bed separately and change patterns and colors.
Another improvement over the old style tool is the ability to add accessories such as pillows and blankets to a sofa, which we also saw in the initial Project Rene video.
Another part of the first reveal that gamers are speculating about is whether the various types of apartment lots will be part of the next Sims base game, but unfortunately it is unclear from the gameplay footage whether the speculation is founded or not.
The Sims 5: Will it have multiplayer and cross-platform?
The Sims 5 will have some sort of multiplayer, yes, but Maxis has not yet been specific about the scope of what it has so far simply called, “collaboration.”
“With Project Rene, we want to make it easier to collaborate and share. You can choose to play and create on your own or with your close friends,” Pearson said during the Project Rene reveal. So we know that it will be possible to choose how much, and whether, to engage in online gaming.
At the Sims Summit in 2022, developers showed cross-platform play between a PC and a cell phone. Both devices seemed to simultaneously modify the same room by placing furniture.
As for multiplayer in Live mode, we do not yet know what Maxis has in mind. What we have heard are the few comments from Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson.
The interesting parts of Wilson’s response that we don’t know about yet are the “social interactions and competition.” “Sims Online” makes me think that EA and Maxis are aiming for a real new Sims MMO game.
It seems unlikely, but there is no doubt that the next Sims game will feature some kind of online play.
The Sims 5: On which consoles and platforms will it be available?
No platform has yet been officially confirmed for The Sims 5, but it is likely that the game will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
As is usually the case, the PC release may also parallel the console release, since players on Windows computers are often the first to try each new version of The Sims.
The Sims 5: Will it support mods like previous games?
Although we do not know the answer for sure, the Sims series has a long history of user-created content from its games.
Even today, the Sims 4 mod continue to be very popular, to the point that The Sims 4 Is getting official support for mods with a hub CurseForge And it’s hard to imagine that Maxis doesn’t want to take the same approach with Sims 5 and open the door wide to custom content.
But as to what form this support will take, or whether it will arrive with the initial release of The Sims 5 or later, the question is still up in the air for the time being.
The Sims 5: The latest leaks on the game
The Sims 5 may be years away, but there are already some leaks. The first credible leaks about The Sims 5 appeared in November 2022 in a thread on Reddit by a now-deleted account.
The user shared some monitor photos taken at the first playtests of The Sims 5. These photos have been reposted on Twitter and elsewhere.
Although any alleged leak should be taken with a grain of salt, the interface of these images matches the one shown in the reveal of The Sims 5, which is a point in favor of their legitimacy.
The images also show the first glimpse of the upcoming game’s neighborhood view, showing that apartments will be a feature of the base game and revealing some glimpses of features related to player-designed furniture.
The Sims 5: Speculation on price at release
We do not know how much the standard edition of The Sims 5 will cost, nor whether there will be a limited edition or “season pass.”
Most blockbuster titles coming out in 2021 and 2022 are priced around 60 euros, although PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions of the game could cost up to 70 euros.
So we can imagine a price around 60, if a deluxe or limited edition were to come out, it might even increase to 80-90 euros, depending on the publisher‘s decision.
