The Sims 5: Everything We Know So Far
The Sims is an incredible franchise that seems resistant to almost every change and fad going on in the gaming industry. Nevertheless, some fans are worried that The Sims 4 might be the last installment in the franchise as Electronic Arts focuses on their other titles or starts chasing after the money to be made in battle royale-style games that are currently dominating the mainstream.
Yet there are some indications that The Sims 5 isn’t off the table yet. EA and Maxis, while silent on the possibility of a fifth Sims game, has given some information that is giving fans hope that they aren’t ready to abandon the franchise just yet.
10 Sims 4 Isn’t Finished Yet
The team behind the series stated that they were scheduled to create 12 major expansions and packs for The Sims 4, meaning there is still lots of work to be done. They only have nine out so far, and they likely won’t divert their attention with another title any time soon.
It is possible another team could be assigned to produce these packs while the main team works on The Sims 5, but doing so could jeopardize The Sims 5 release as players spend their money on packs for The Sims 4. It could also be a waste of resources, as players would opt to wait to spend their money on the new game rather than buy new content for a five-year-old game. In either case, it doesn’t seem like the game will be released until The Sims 4 has been finished first.
9 Sims 4 Did Very Well
The biggest statement EA made that concerned fans was that The Sims 5 game would never happen unless The Sims 4 sold enough copies. This became even more alarming when Sims 4 was plagued by negative reviews upon launch, and fans quickly became upset over the lack of features and content that existed in previous titles.
Nevertheless, the game did very well according to EA and generated healthy revenues for the company. There is still the possibility that it wasn’t enough to justify a fifth game, but it is promising and many fans see it as a good sign.
8 Sims 4 May Have Done Too Well
Conversely, The Sims 4 may be generating a good deal of revenue via the expansions and EA might prefer to ride that wave for a while instead of plunking the money down to create an entirely new title.
It doesn’t mean they wouldn’t ever do The Sims 5. But if EA is making good money releasing bite-sized pieces of content, it wouldn’t make much financial sense to sell the old cows still producing milk for a new one that might not.
7 Update At E3 2019
It’s possible that EA and Maxis will give some updates at the upcoming E3 conference this year regarding the status of the project. Although, they were expected to do so at E3 in 2018 and didn’t, which means there are no guarantees for this year.
At the very least, there may be some announcements for the future of The Sims 4 which fans could use to draw some more conclusions and speculation regarding The Sims 5. But again, there’s no telling if they will say anything about either game, so fans will just have to wait and see.
6 The Next Generation Of Consoles Is Coming
It would be very surprising for a game developer to release a brand-new game that will have years of expansions, major packs, and other DLC right before the next generation of consoles is set to release. If your game is supposed to last four to five years, you probably don’t want to drop it right before players upgrade to a new console and leave your game behind.
More than likely, EA and Maxis will wait until the new generation of consoles are released before they will put out The Sims 5. Speculation puts the PlayStation 5 release in late 2020, which means the game will likely not see a release until 2021, which lines up with how long it’ll take to finish The Sims 4.
5 20th Anniversary Of Sims
The only thing that could possibly undermine all of the predictions of a 2021 release is the fact that 2020 will be the 20th anniversary of The Sims franchise. Some believe EA and Maxis will take advantage of the special date to do a surprise release during the anniversary.
Yet, more likely, it will be a prime opportunity to do the first reveal of an upcoming The Sims 5 release. EA and Maxis could put on some big spectacle and draw in millions of eyeballs to do a reveal of all the features coming up in the new game. It would make an ideal PR opportunity and, if done properly, could create a lot of hype for The Sims 5 that might undo some of the damage that came from The Sims 4’s release.
4 Fans Have High Expectations
Going into The Sims 4, many fans were surprised by the sudden disappearance of beloved features and mechanics that had rolled out in previous games, and that many basic elements of gameplay were now suddenly locked behind paywalls. EA and Maxis were scrambling to minimize the blowback by quickly reintroducing features, like toddlers, for free. They spent a lot of time explaining why there were no longer cars or an open world to explore as well.
This left many fans with bitter tastes in their mouth and even convinced some to abandon the franchise. For The Sims 5 to do well, EA would be wise to pay attention to the criticisms and introduce many of the wanted and expected features in their new game, along with any new developments they’ll cook up.
3 What They Need To Do With Sims 5
If EA is to create The Sims 5, there are some old features that will have to be included for them to appease fans. Simple features like cars, pools, and toddlers would be necessary.
Some more complicated features would be minimizing the number of loading screens and bringing back the open world from The Sims 3. The first would be a welcome quality of life improvement and the other was a beloved feature that was simply abandoned. If EA has any hope of making The Sims 5 a success, they’ll need to bring at least those features back.
2 What They Could Do With Sims 5
Possibilities for what could be included in The Sims 5 is exciting. It’s a given that The Sims 5 will continue the trend of improving the graphics further and introducing new features that weren’t found in previous titles.
Some think that, with the majority of the gaming industry focusing more and more on online play, The Sims 5 could incorporate some kind of online version or online elements. There’s also speculation that The Sims 5 could include virtual reality components, given the focus The Sims 4 is now having on first-person mode. This could be EA and Maxis testing out the waters for a VR style of play.
1 There’s A Lot We Don’t Know
In the end, EA and Maxis are still focused on finalizing The Sims 4 and likely don’t want to get players hopes up for The Sims 5 unless they’re confident it’s something they’re willing and able to take on. Pretty much all of the news regarding The Sims 5 is guesswork and speculation based on a handful of statements from the developers and fans who claim to have a friend of a friend whose uncle works for Maxis.
If it makes sense financially for EA and Maxis to produce another Sims game and doing so will generate large profits, you better believe they’ll create The Sims 5. But if the blowback from The Sims 4 and lack of any expected sales make such a large investment of time, resources, and personnel too high of a risk for the companies involved, then they’ll likely stick to safer projects guaranteed to produce a profit.
For now, fans will have to content themselves with The Sims 4 and its expansions until EA and Maxis decide to provide definitive news on whether or not The Sims 5 is going to be a reality.
