The next game in The Sims franchise–codenamed Project Rene–has turned into a mobile-first experience that’s all about social multiplayer. It is not The Sims 5, and developer Maxis states this title can live in harmony with The Sims 4 and any future single-player installments in the series.
EA and Maxis discussed the future of The Sims in a blog post celebrating the new year. Within this article, the companies noted that “Project Rene has evolved to focus on social multiplayer play, offering a more direct way for friends to share creativity together.” In addition, the “mobile-first life-sim game” is about collaboration.
However, The Sims franchise won’t forget about its roots. The blog post states: “At its core, The Sims was built on a deep, single-player life simulation, chock full of rich systems, meaningful storytelling, and player agency that puts you in control. That foundation isn’t going anywhere.”
Originally announced in 2022, Project Rene was presumed to be The Sims 5. But that changed in recent years, as EA and Maxis pointed out the in-development game would complement The Sims 4 instead of replacing it. Earlier this month, The Sims team declared their values wouldn’t change, in wake of fan concerns regarding EA’s $55 billion deal with the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund affecting the life-sim series.
Talk of Project Rene exploring multiplayer concepts emerged in 2023, with Animal Crossing and Among Us name-checked as possible inspirations. Now, it’s clear, Project Rene is going all in on social multiplayer. Outside of gaming, there is also a Sims movie in the works.