Though The Sims 4 is still thriving 10 years after it was originally released, developer Maxis and publisher Electronic Arts are in active development on Project Rene, the codename for what will become the next iteration of The Sims. Maxis is “very early on in development” of it, but is slowly starting to share more about the project. Perhaps most notably, Project Rene is not The Sims 5.
But the game is far enough along that Maxis was able to host small playtests focusing on interior design and furniture as early as 2022 — the same year the company announced it was developing the game. Maxis and Electronic Arts intend to keep that up, hosting small playtests throughout the course of development. The next playtest, part of what Maxis is calling The Sims Labs, will focus on Project Rene’s multiplayer components later this year.
“This is how the best games are made, working hand-in-hand with players,” game director Grant Rodiek wrote in 2023. “It’s such a valuable tool that will help us make Project Rene truly special. But! — it is a long, involved process.”
So far, the developer has published four separate videos that go over the latest in Project Rene. The broadcasts are an unexpected and transparent way for Maxis to keep players invested in the next generation of The Sims. There’s still a lot to learn about Project Rene, including the ever-important release date, but we do know a lot. Most recently, Electronic Arts’ The Sims franchise vice president Kate Gorman Revelli told Polygon that there won’t necessarily be a The Sims 5 — Maxis and Electronic Arts are moving away from linear games.
Let’s get caught up.
Why is it called Project Rene?
Project Rene is the codename for the next Sims game. Whatever the name, it won’t stay Project Rene; codenames are standard in the industry. But the team chose this codename specifically because it’s a reflection of words like “renewal, renaissance, rebirth,” said Lyndsay Pearson, who leads The Sims franchise, in a Behind the Sims broadcast. “It represents our renewed commitment to The Sims,” she added.
When will Project Rene be released?
Maxis and Electronic Arts haven’t given a release window for Project Rene — they’ve only said that it’s very early in development. You shouldn’t expect the game to be released for a couple years still, but there may be opportunities for early access periods, the latest of which is scheduled for this year.
“There is so much work remaining for Project Rene, though,” Grant said in a blog post from 2023. “We still haven’t shared our Simulation experiences or character and clothing customization — not to mention new versions of apartment customization and additional social play experiences. All of this will be slowly stood up, shared, tested, tweaked, enhanced, reduced. And we intend to develop it hand-in-hand alongside our players.”
Is Project Rene free to play?
Maxis made The Sims 4 free to play in 2022, well into the game’s lifespan; The Sims 4 was released in 2014. Project Rene will be free to download from the start, Pearson said in an episode of Behind The Sims from September 2023.
“That means 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 a core game purchase or energy mechanics,” Pearson said. Project Rene, like The Sims 4, will have paid content, but Pearson said the new game’s content distribution will be slightly different. Her example was weather — in The Sims 4, you needed the $40 Seasons expansion pass to have any weather at all. But the next iteration of the game would come with basic weather, and the paid content would expand on that — so if snow was in the base game, the expansion would let you ice skate or build a snowman, she said.
Pearson said Maxis wants to “lower those barriers to play” to give players access to the broadest shared systems. Gorman Revelli told Polygon in September that the linear model is key to letting players hang on to everything they’ve already purchased with The Sims 4. That’s part of the reason why Project Rene isn’t The Sims 5 — Maxis doesn’t want to erase progress like it has in the past.
Does Project Rene have multiplayer?
Project Rene will have multiplayer, but Rodiek tempered expectations in a Behind The Sims episode from January 2023. “Now, one thing to keep in mind is that Project Rene is not an MMO,” Rodiek said. “It is not this public, shared space where everything you do is always with other people. You could play on your own, on your terms, and then again, when you want on your terms, you can invite others to come and play with you.”
We’ll likely learn more about what the game’s multiplayer will look like after the upcoming playtest.
Where can I play Project Rene?
Maxis and Electronic Arts haven’t confirmed exactly where you’ll be able to play Project Rene, just that it’s coming to Windows PC and mobile. Not only that, but there’ll be cross-save between the two options: “With Project Rene, you’ll be able to play on a PC, put it down, and pick up right where you left off on a mobile device,” reads a blog post on the Electronic Arts website. The developer is still working on how to “tailor the experiences per platform,” meaning how the game changes between PC and mobile, if at all, due to performance on the platforms.
How will the gameplay change compared to The Sims 4?
Maxis and Electronic Arts said in the third Behind The Sims video from September 2022 that Project Rene will feel “Simsy,” with players managing what their Sims do, “while also presenting gameplay choices differently.” There hasn’t been a ton of information on what that actually means, but some areas where you can expect to see changes are animation, visuals, socialization, and Sim routines.
“The vision for animation is driven by the phrase, ‘read the room,’ which means we want players to know how our Sims feel, along with what they’re thinking, just by how they behave,” Maxis wrote on its blog. “This means we support a variety of attitudes, emotions and postures that need to work across various objects and socialization features.” The developer expects this to extend to routines, improving on how Sims “live at home and in a broader neighborhood.”
When it comes to customization options, you can expect more detail everywhere. The first playtest was focused on furniture customization and design, and the first Behind The Sims shows a little about how this works. There’s a ton of flexibility when it comes to color and design, and also in how objects are placed in the world. The clip shows a Sim tinkering with a couch, for example: The player was able to change the colors and patterns on the couch, but also adjust different details, like the shape or number of cushions. They could also place and move around pillows that sit on the couch, too.
What about The Sims 4?
The Sims 4 isn’t going to die when Project Rene is released. Maxis said Project Rene and The Sims 4 will coexist: “We will continue to support both at the same time and will plan to bring more exciting content to The Sims 4 community for the foreseeable future.”
The Sims 4 is the future of the franchise, too. “We also know that we’re not going to go to a linear model, because we have so much with The Sims 4,” Gorman Revelli said. “What we’re really looking at is, how do we continue to work with our community, work with our players, and not have you have this moment in time where you’re going to reset all your progress and lose those amazing memories, characters, and things that you’ve built within those 10 years of your gameplay, potentially?”
The Sims 4 will continue to get better — not replaced.
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