Not that we did not know this already, but Electronic Arts (EA) have confirmed that the next rendition of The Sims franchise is in the works. While it has not been confirmed that it will be called The Sims 5 to follow on from The Sims 4, Laura Miele – chief studios officer at EA ? confirmed that the team is hard at work the project.
In an interview during the GamesBeat Summit 2021 Visionary Awards, when asked about what the future of the franchise will look like, Miele said ” I think that’s one of our biggest opportunities with The Sims is the social connection component that we need to bring to this brand in this franchise. And the team is hard at work on the next generation of that experience.?
There is no clear indication of how deep into development the next edition of the popular simulation franchise is. And judging by recent comments with Sim Gurus saying The Sims 4 will have content for ?many more years?, it is probably a little while yet before the curtain call.
However, there has been a lot of speculation about whether the next edition of The Sims will adopt an online, multi-player approach.
The Sims 5 (if it is even called that) will probably be multiplayer
While Miele did not explicitly confirm or deny that theory, she did make reference to how players can ?play together?.
?The idea that we will build on the tools for people to play with life, that’s our brand simulation and the idea that people will be able to play with life together. We’ve learned a lot about how players interact, what motivates players, how player, how players can come together cooperatively.
“As we think about the next generation of Sims, super important for us to have the best tools, the most flexibility, and for players to really expand on their creativity, remix items and objects in the world and then do that together,” she added.
The Sims 4 is set to release a new Kit and a new Game Pack in the coming weeks, although an official date was yet to be confirmed at the time of writing. However, free trials for DLC has been introduced, starting with The Sims 4 City Living expansion pack for this weekend (30 April).