The Sims 5 – First sneak peek
During the Behind the Sims Summit event today (October 18), Lyndsay Pearson – VP of Franchise Creative for The Sims – confirmed after much speculation that the next core game of the franchise is in development.
Pearson explained that the game, which has the working title Project Rene, is still a few years off, but the team wanted to reveal what they were working on so Simmers can be involved.
“We have a growing team focused on this game, working alongside the Sims 4 and mobile teams,” she said. “And now we want to share this with you earlier than ever before because we want you to be a part of our development journey.
“Exploring different ways to play The Sims requires us to commit to different ways of building it. Today marks the start of our journey over the next few years.”
Explaining why the team decided on the working title “Project Rene”, Pearson said: “We chose ‘Project Rene’ because it’s reminiscent of words like ‘renewal’, ‘renaissance’, ‘rebirth’, and it represents our renewed commitment to The Sims.
“And that’s what we’re doing, we’re ushering in a new future for The Sims with a new game experience and more.”
A sneak peek of some of the concepts that they were developing was also shown, with more advanced creative tools being teased.
A player was seen customising individual items, such as the headboard and footboard of a bed and the shape and placement of the cushions on a sofa. Colours and patterns of parts can be chosen, including with the use of a colour wheel.
There is a collaborative component as well, allowing Simmers to share their creations with others. There looks to be privacy settings, so you can choose to only play solo or with close friends if you want to.
And it appears the game can be played on multiple supported devices. In the preview, a player could be seen customising a single build on a computer and on a phone at the same time.
“Over the next couple of years, we will continue sharing updates with all of you on Porject Rene,” Pearson concluded. “We’ll share in-progress work, explorations, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes content as well as start to open up early access Project Rene software to small groups over time.
“This is super early for us, and we’ve never shared information about our games years before they launch to the world, but we’re so excited to take you on this journey with us.”
The reveal comes on the day that The Sims 4’s base game goes permanently free, eight years after its original release in 2014.
