EA and Maxis have dropped a lot of news for their currently ongoing and the next upcoming project title in The Sims franchise at the latest Summit Event. Starting with the biggest news on the list, The Sims 4 is officially free-to-play on all platforms! Of course, that is just the base game and all the expansions will still hold their price tags, but at least fans of the series can now play for free on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, and PC or MAC via Origin.
They have also announced that, for the first time in The Sims history, the studio will collaborate with Overwolf to provide The Sims 4 Players with a new destination to download mods and player-created content. Overwolf operates CurseForge, a mod manager and discovery platform built to support creators and host their content. For years, The Sims 4 community has been expanded by modders and content creators, and this marks a big step forward in recognizing and celebrating their contributions.
Then we have the next generation of The Sims game and creative platform, with a working title of Project Rene. The title “Project Rene” was chosen to be reminiscent of words like renewal, renaissance, and rebirth to represent the developer’s renewed commitment to The Sims’ bright future. The game will stay true to what The Sims has always been while pushing to evolve how those Sims think and behave. It will reimagine The Sims with even more ways to play, tools to encourage creativity, and the ability to tell meaningful stories. With Project Rene, players will have the choice to play solo or collaborate with others and will have the ability to play their game across supported devices.
In regards to this new project, Vice President of Franchise Creative for The Sims, Lyndsay Pearson, stated, “From the start, The Sims defined life simulation games and has continued to grow into an incredible platform for creativity and self-expression. 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.”
For those playing The Sims FreePlay, they will add updated appearances of Sim’s faces for preteen, teenager, adult, and elderly life stages. This visual upgrade includes all hairstyles, earrings, and glasses being shared across all genders, and will be permanently available in-game for free starting today. In addition, the annual “Christmas in the Heir” seasonal quest will be coming to the game in December with a new special narrative, and the ability to build and live in a luxury superyacht will be introduced in early 2023.
Lastly, The Sims Mobile will launch balconies, a new build/buy addition, during the holidays this year. Developed for Simmers to express themselves through imaginative storytelling, the feature offers players an opportunity to recreate dream builds with balconies and the option to customize them through various barrier styles.
