After bringing us good news just last October with The Sims 4 being free-to-play after 8 long years, EA announced that The Sims 5 (Project Rene) will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor and launched as a free-to-play game. In the Behind The Sims video a day ago, Lyndsay Pearson, the Maxis Vice President of Franchise Creative, said that anybody can download the next game at no cost.
“We intend for Project Rene to be free to download, meaning that when it’s ready and fully open to our players, you’ll be able to join and play and explore Project Rene without a subscription, without core game purchase or energy mechanics.” Furthermore, EA has confirmed rumours that The Sims 5 will co-exist with The Sims 4, which means they will focus on updating content on both sides simultaneously. For more information, continue reading below.
3 Things to Know About the Future Release of The Sims 5
1. The Sims 5 is Free-to-Play and Will Co-Exist Alongside The Sims 4
Although many labelled The Sims 5 free-to-play, EA much prefer the wording free-to-download instead. It is because despite allowing players to download and play the game for free from day one, there will be microtransactions and content expansion packs for EA to earn money from.
For example, EA mentioned: “Basic weather may be added to the core game for free, for everybody. For the future, a pack for purchase may focus on winter sports with activities like ice dancing or a snowman-building competition. Building this way means that down the line, we could use wind or rain or clouds for other pack themes as well.”
The ideas align with what Lyndsay Pearson mentioned, as they want to focus on building something solid and cohesive from the start. The game won’t start with everything you have in The Sims 4, but they will add new experiences and content to Project Rene over time. Moreover, they also mention that The Sims 5 will exist side by side with The Sims 4 and will bring even more exciting content to The Sims 4 for the foreseeable future.
2. Gameplay Features
From the stream, we can conclude that The Sims 5 will prioritise multiplayer and building. For example, Lyndsay mentioned: “With Project Rene, we want to make it easier to work together and share. You can play or create alone or with your close friends – it’s entirely your choice.”
In the sneak peeks we saw, the game will have new sharing capabilities. For instance, players can share an arrangement of furniture and other items in one cluster rather than an entire room or complete build. Furthermore, we also see an evolution in Build/Buy mode as players can pick the colour, patterns or shapes of objects in furniture customisation.
The focus on these aspects coincides with EA experimenting with a social play experience where players can design an apartment together. However, it is best to reiterate that they also fully recognise and embrace that The Sims can be quite a private and intimate escape for some people to explore things alone. It is always the player’s choice to whether play on their own or with others.
Also Read: EA Sports FC 24 Release Date, Gameplay and More
3. Live Mode
If you are new to The Sims, live mode is the only mode in which the simulation runs and plays, where Sims live their lives, and you can control the time in most circumstances and adjust the speed at which time passes. In The Sims 5, Maxis is working on a vision for animation to improve socialisation, with the phrase read the room being the driving force.
According to Maxis: “Players want to know how our Sims feel, along with what they are thinking, just by how they behave, which will manifest in a variety of attitudes, emotions and postures that need to work across various objects and socialisation features”.
However, Maxis has also stated that they do not want players feeling overwhelmed, as they planned to adopt a clean, clear and simple visual. “From animating, talking and processing thoughts, the team will use basic visuals and placeholder content to understand better how much information is too much, what stands out and ultimately, what helps players understand what their Sim is thinking.”
Also Read: Top 10 Simulation Games to Play in 2023
Concluding Remarks
With all things considered, EA and Maxis are really trying to push the boundaries in The Sims 5 to incorporate their ideas of a new way to play The Sims. While it may still feel familiar, the developers promise us that the game will present gameplay choices differently and do things never before seen in the game. Thus, are you excited about The Sims 5? We know we are. Let us know your thoughts about the changes on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
When Is The Sims 5 Releasing?
According to EA, the game is still in the early stages of development, and it could be a long wait before launching it officially. However, if you are interested in city-building games, check out our article on the 5 best city-building games on PC here.
Will The Sims 5 Have Early Access?
Yes. According to Lyndsay, they will look towards the community to help guide the development of The Sims 5 by opening up early access to small groups one at a time. Furthermore, they will also continuously update the community with their in-progress work, explorations, sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes content.
What Platforms Are The Sims 5 Available On?
Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing which platform the game will be available. However, we can predict that The Sims 5 will at least have a PC and mobile platform from the scenes in the stream. If we want to make a bolder prediction, we assume the game will also launch for Xbox and PlayStation as The Sims 4 is also available on those platforms.