Someone in the next plane of existence must be looking out for me, because I joined the most recent “Sims Summit” at just the right time. Towards the end of this 30-minute livestream, the devs behind The Sims announced a new project that’s still years in the making, but is ostensibly what will become The Sims 5.
It’s titled “Project Rene,” and it looks to be their most ambitious project yet. We likely won’t see or hear anything more of it for at least another year, maybe even two or three knowing how EA works, but the fact that a new Sims game is being developed is certainly exciting.
Project Rene explained
We were given a glimpse of the new Build/Buy mode, which honestly looks perfect. The graphics are updated, yet still have a sense of style to them; they lack the potato-y quality of The Sims 3, and they thankfully ditched the cartoonish look of The Sims 4. It looks sleek, polished, and even more intuitive to use than ever before.
What’s more is that this game will be across all platforms, AND for the first time ever, you can have multiple iterations of the same game save open on multiple devices. The example they demonstrated is having a room open on desktop, but editing it in real-time on your cell phone, and everything syncing up with no lag whatsoever.
Now, this could vary wildly from the finished product—we ought to not get our hopes up after many “Kinect-esque” examples, after all. But it’s still incredibly exciting to get even a crumb of news after so many years of waiting and wondering, and to be honest, this is still more info than we’ve gotten from other games in waiting (*cough* Dragon Age: Dreadwolf *cough*).
This is what the team at EA had to say about it:
The game, which is currently in its very early stages of development, has a working title “Project Rene.” This name was chosen to be reminiscent of words like renaissance and rebirth to represent the team’s renewed commitment for The Sims’ bright future. Project Rene will fundamentally evolve how Sims think and behave, how players create and customize their worlds, and innovate in entirely new ways.
To start, we are experimenting with creative tools, a key part of The Sims’ DNA, and taking a look at what has worked before and how we can offer more flexibility to help with building and decorating in-game.
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.
The Sims has always evolved to reflect our players and their experiences, and we are building on that foundation to encourage creativity and the ability to tell meaningful stories. This is just a first glimpse of what the team is working on, and we will continue to share more information on the game’s development and milestones along the way.
EA
I’m personally very, very excited, as someone who hasn’t quite gotten into The Sims 4 yet and is tired of the crappy graphics on The Sims 3. What do you think? Gonna re-download your copy of The Sims? Sul sul? Let us know down in the comments, and regardless, Happy Simming! Friendly reminder that The Sims 4 is free today, so, you know, get to it.
(featured image: EA)
