The Sims 5 – working title Project Rene – is official. After months of speculation, we now know for a fact that the sequel to The Sims 4 is in development.
Now in its ninth year, The Sims 4 remains a huge hit for EA. Despite a rocky launch in 2014, the game has shown impressive longevity thanks to a stream of new packs, regular free base game updates, and a loyal, passionate fanbase.
But on October 18, 2022, EA and Maxis offered a first glimpse at the future of the franchise.
Here's everything you need to know about The Sims 5.
The Sims 5 potential release date: When is it coming out?
While Project Rene has been officially unveiled, the release of the fifth core Sims game is still a while off, maybe as late as sometime in 2025.
Announcing The Sims 5, Lyndsay Pearson – VP of Franchise Creative for The Sims – confirmed that development was just getting started and suggested that it will be a "few years" before its launch.
"Today marks the start of our journey over the next few years," she said on October 18, explaining that the team wanted to reveal the project early so Simmers can be "a part of our development journey".
This is an interesting approach, and may help the new game avoid a divisive launch that its predecessor suffered from.
At the same time, Pearson confirmed that the team will continue to provide ongoing support and new content for The Sims 4.
As for what platforms you will be able to play The Sims 5 on, nothing is official yet but it seems a safe bet that – at the very least – the game will be available on PC and Mac via the Origin store (and maybe Steam).
One interesting detail revealed by Pearson is that the team is exploring the possibility of the game being played on multiple supported devices at the same time. In a behind-the-scenes preview, a player was customising a single build simultaneously on a computer and on a mobile device.
"Same experience, different screens," she said.
Project Rene game director Grant Rodiek said that the intention is to play to each platform's strengths.
"You can have that deep dive [experience] at home on your PC, play for four hours, change every single thing about a piece of furniture that you imagine... But then, on the go, you can grab your phone and maybe it's a different experience," he said during January 2023's Behind The Sims stream.
"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."
Although the PlayStation and Xbox versions of The Sims 4 launched more than three years after the PC version, the past few years have seen feature parity (excluding mods) between all platforms and packs being released on the same day for everyone, suggesting that the console versions are being taken more seriously than before.
So with that in mind, we would be surprised if console players had to wait for an extra three years for The Sims 5 compared to PC players.
The Sims 5 on Nintendo Switch: Will it happen?
A Nintendo Switch version of The Sims 5 would be highly-requested. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee given EA's comparative lack of support for the console. The Sims 4 isn't on the Switch at all.
That said, an experimental early build of Project Rene was seen to be running on a mobile device, although we don't know the specifics and whether it's a streamed version or not.
Might that suggest it's not impossible for the game to be playable on Nintendo's handheld in some form? Time will tell.
The Sims 5 multiplayer: Is it confirmed?
One of the big questions about The Sims 5 is whether or not it will be multiplayer. It's quite a contentious issue, to say the least. The franchise is known for being a single-player experience, and original plans for The Sims 4 to be a multiplayer title were not received well by the fanbase before a U-turn happened.
The answer is yes, there will be optional multiplayer aspects in Project Rene. But it's unclear how multiplayer will work at this stage.
We do know that EA and Maxis plan to give Simmers more tools than ever to collaborate with others – perhaps an expansion on The Sims 4's popular gallery feature – when it comes to user-generated content.
There will also be privacy settings, so you can choose to play solo or with close friends if you'd rather.
And an official FAQ confirmed that Simmers can have a fully single-player experience and ignore all of the multiplayer features.
Project Rene game director Grant Rodiek said during January 2023's Behind The Sims stream that the game can be both single-player and multiplayer.
"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," he explained.
Rodiek stated that The Sims 5 is "not an MMO", adding: "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."
We expect more details about how everything works in the months and years ahead.
The Sims 5 news: What else is in the game?
During the special October 18 stream, EA and Maxis shared some early concepts for The Sims 5 that showed off greater customisation when it comes to builds.
Individual items can be customised. Examples demonstrated include the headboard and footboard of a bed and the shape and placement of the cushions on a sofa. We also saw a colour picker, so players aren't restricted to a limited number of swatches, and different surfaces and components can have different colours and patterns.
The sneak peek also showed a player precisely positioning a sofa's cushions including rotating them.
That's all we officially know in terms of features for The Sims 5, but we can make some educated guesses about what else might be in the game.
Firstly, there are rumours that The Sims 5 will be a live-service game.
Industry insider Jeff Grubb, while speaking on his Giant Bomb show in September 2022, said that – in terms of content – it isn't ideal for a new numbered entry in the series to start from scratch every time, and suggested that EA has been considering a different approach for the next game.
"I think they're ready to change how they approach their big numbered sequels going forward including with The Sims," Grubb said. "And that audience, I think, would be more than happy to do it with that game."
Elsewhere, The Sims 4 has made significant improvements over its lifespan when it comes to diversity and inclusion, from implementing customisable pronouns and asexual and aromantic Sims to adding a greater variety of darker skin tones, Black hairstyles, and East Asian eye presets.
An increased number of clothes, build items, and foods representing different cultures have been added over time, while the High School Years expansion takes a step in representing neurodiversity with the Socially Awkward trait.
The franchise's marketing in recent years has honed in on the 'Play with Life' branding, so we can expect The Sims 5 to continue in this direction and be more inclusive from the beginning.
As an example, the team has previously been transparent about technical limitations preventing them from having 'mechanically' non-binary Sims. This is something that will surely be addressed when building the next game from scratch.
Disability representation is an area that is lacking in The Sims 4. In October 2021, the team responded to a petition by saying that mobility items were "at the top of our minds" and "at the top of our list". There's been little talk about them since then, but we hope we'll see something at some point.
Aside from diversity and inclusion, one common request for The Sims 4 from players is cars. In March 2021, the team acknowledged the request, elaborating in an Inside Maxis stream: "To bring new content into the game, it involves many, many processes. We have to take important steps that are a part of the game development process and often that takes a lot of time.
"Sometimes there's also foundational technology that we need to work on, and sometimes we have to dig into the designs very deeply to make these things happen."
It's unclear what the chances are of cars coming to The Sims 4, but the high demand will have also filtered down those working on The Sims 5. So there's hope yet.
Some fans have also been calling for open worlds to return to the franchise for The Sims 5, but that's something that can't be predicted at this time, as nobody knows whether or not that would fit with the core design of the next game.
The Sims 5 trailer: When can I watch it?
Given that The Sims 5 is still in very early development, it's probably not surprising that there isn't a trailer yet.
When something does drop, we will update this page.
The Sims 4 is available on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
