Celebrating all things The Sims with The Sims Summit, Maxis has announced that The Sims 5 is in development – currently codenamed Project Rene.
It’s fair to stick with the Project Rene monicker for now, as the game is still very early in development, but there are some key elements that Maxis has shared. For one thing, the goal is to evolve how Sims think and act in game, how players can create and customise the world, and further innovation.
A key part of that comes with the creative tools, which look to be even more flexible than before, allowing for more dynamism when building and decorating – it certainly looks like a response of sorts to the impressive indie life sim Paralives. Additionally, you’ll be able to play solo or collaboratively, and this will carry across various different devices – the experience should be the same across all platforms, and that applies across PC and mobile, as shown in the short demonstration.
There’s already a rather impressive degree of freedom on show, adapting the number of cushions on a sofa, the patterns and colours, the thoroughly freeform placement of objects, and showing this be mapped from one controlling device to another viewing the changes at the same time.
“From the start, The Sims defined life simulation games and has continued to grow into an incredible platform for creativity and self-expression,” says Lyndsay Pearson, Vice President of Franchise Creative for The Sims. “Today marks the start of our journey over the next few years as we work on this next game and creative platform, currently titled Project Rene. We are building on the same foundation that has made The Sims compelling for generations of players and pushing the boundaries to create new experiences. We’ll have much more to share as we continue to progress on the game’s development and milestones along the way.”
The announcement of Project Rene was a great way to end The Sims Summit. It also ties in nicely with the latest evolution for The Sims 4, which has transitioned from being a paid product, to now having the base The Sims 4 game be completely free to play – of course, a lot of content is tied behind the many, many expansion packs.
Source: The Sims, press release
