The Sims 5 developers have addressed how much of the next core game in the franchise will be multiplayer.
Under development with the working title Project Rene, the sequel was officially announced in October last year, though there has been a lot of speculation on whether multiplayer will play a big part in the game, despite the franchise often traditionally being seen as a single-player experience.
During this week's Behind The Sims stream, Project Rene game director Grant Rodiek clarified what can be expected on this subject – confirming that while there will be a significant multiplayer component to the title, it is planned to be entirely optional.
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"Project Rene can be both [single-player and multiplayer]," he said.
"The reality is that, yes, we know that our players want to have that intimate personal experience where they're exploring stories and ideas in single-player, but there are also really cool things you could do with others, where you could share and create with your friends, the people that you want. We think we can be both.
"One thing to keep in mind is that Project Rene is not an MMO. It is not this public, shared space where everything you do is always with other people.
"You can play on your own, on your terms, and then again, when you want on your terms, you can invite others to come and play with you. That's the structure that we're pursuing, and we think that's really cool and perfect for The Sims."
Elsewhere, Rodiek discussed cross-platform compatibility between PC and mobile and the benefits that come with that, denying that the game would be a "shallower" experience as a result.
The intention is to play to each platform's strengths.
"The thing that excites us so much is that we can basically remove the barriers to play for The Sims," he said.
"What we mean by this is that you can have that deep dive at home on your PC, play for four hours, change every single thing about a piece of furniture that you imagine, typing in RGB values and changing every single part. So that's the PC experience. That's that true, rich experience that you're used to.
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"But then, on the go, you can grab your phone and maybe it's a different experience.
"Maybe you're grabbing archetypes, preselecting templates, or grabbing the stuff that you've already created. But what this means is that you can now play The Sims wherever you are, without barriers, without restrictions.
"And we think that's really powerful and really exciting."
Rodiek confirmed that The Sims 5 is still "years out", but the team is excited with how development has been going and added that there will continue to be regular news updates on the project.
The stream event offered plenty of other news, including details on an infants life stage being added to The Sims 4 as well as a tease on the next big expansion.
The Sims 4 is available on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
