Yesterday VentureBeat published an interesting interview with Laura Miele, EA’s Chief Studio Officer within Electronic Arts. In this interview they’ve covered a lot of different EA Franchises including The Sims.
The interviewer went on to talk about what we can expect from the next Sims Game and what opportunities could there be within the franchise when it comes to multiplayer and the next generation Sims Game. Laura confirmed in the interview that Maxis is currently hard at work on the next generation Sims game and some of the things they’re bringing into this new Sims Game.
Check out our full transcript of the interview below:
Interviewer: On another note I talked a little about The Sims – you mentioned that which is totally a great point with Maxis related games SimCity, SimFarm, even The Sims Online. It was 20 years ago, ahead of its time, with letting people build a character, build your environment. The Sims is still a vibrant franchise for EA right now. Is there sort of an opportunity to do more of there? I look at Roblox, Fortnite Creative and things like that. It seems like The Sims out of all your franchises is maybe best equipped to play in this world?
Laura Miele: Yes, a lot of fertile ground for The Sims for sure and the idea that we will build on the tools for people to play with life (thats our brand) and the idea for people to be able to play with life together. We had The Sims Online that came out in 2002 which was around 20 years ago. We certainly were ahead of our time.
I think 20 years later we learned a lot about how players interact, what motivates players, how players can come together co-operatively and so as you imagine as we think about the next generation of The Sims it’s SUPER important for us to have the best tools, the most flexibility and for players to really expand on their creativity, remix items and objects in the world. And then to do that together – I think that’s one of our biggest opportunities with The Sims is the social connection component that we need to bring to this brand and this franchise. The team is hard at work on the next generation of that experience.
Interviewer: …I imagine as The Sims becoming more of a platform for creativity – it feels like an opportunity?
Laura Miele: Absolutely. And it’s us being able to create a framework and that players are actually gonna create these experiences and in the end its doing it together, doing it collaboratively. They are sharing, they could create marketplaces.
What we arm them with and the capabilities and frameworks we arm them with and where they take that I think it’s going to be a pretty significant surprise and a pretty exciting time for us as we bring these tools and platforms to market.
It’s no secret that the next generation Sims Game, or The Sims 5 as we call it until the official announcement, is hard in development. We’ve made numerous reports about Maxis’ active plans and work behind-the-scenes that they’re researching and looking for this game.
You can check out all of the news and articles we have so far about the next Sims Game on our The Sims 5 News Category!
Tip: PekeSims
Yeah I think this pretty much confirms they are looking at some sort of online play. It better be optional otherwise TS5 has already flopped.
Online play is not what I want in my Sims game. I like how it is with the gallery. But beyond that I am not interested. And it saddens me that it looks like I won’t be getting the Sims 5 if that is how they are going to go with the game. As I don’t play Roblox nor fortnite so if it is anything like those games then what is the point?
A world that is like a combination of the Sims 2 and 3 with Sims 4 graphics would be preferable. I do love to build my sims’ houses and some other buildings but I play live mode more.
I’m already not that interested in Sims 5 because I’ve repurchased packs like Seasons, Pets, City, and University 4 times as the new generations come out, and now that I’m older I’m not wanting to keep shelling out money for content I already own… again. But now with this whole online thing, I do not want that at all. Sims is a solo game. And even if it is optional, guess what? All those resources going into making it online will take away from gameplay again, just like the scrapped online content in Sims 4. No thanks.
If they want an online game why not to lunch another project? For me sims is a single-player game and I don’t want any marketplaces or social interactions. I only want interesting game play with unique animation that I would need to discover as I play. I don’t want to pay for the options that will again consume considerable part of the budget and kill the graphics.
You are back – we missed you and our hearts were with you!
I really hope by creativity they mean that they will be adding in tons of ways to customize things through a color wheel. Really miss that feature in the sims 4 and would save them time to work on other things if they didn’t have to stop and patch in additional colors for us.
As for online, I have almost a thousand hours in BOTH 7D2D and Conan Exiles. Both games have multi-player experience and i’ve hardly touched it and it doesn’t bother me at all that it’s there because I tend to forget. Both sp and mp get the same updates and it’s there if you want it. If the sims does the same thing then those who don’t want an online experience will not suffer or care that there’s a mp option too. We have to just wait and see, that’s all there is to it.
I’m excited though that there is going to be a sims 5 though. At one point the gurus weren’t so sure about it. But! please not anytime soon. We need a few more things to complete the sims 4 game still.
How about concentrating on fixing bugs in the current game instead of adding some stupid online component that no one asked for to a game that’s not even out yet?
Online play better be optional! I like playing by myself and creating my own story when I play my Sims. Instead of creating a new game, maybe try and fix Sims 4.
I wonder how online would work with mods/Packs.
If the other person doesn’t have the mod or pack that i have, how would it look like for them?
And when it come to relationships online, does that mean that someone online can just come in and romance someone in my family member? Or make them move out of the house? Cause I don’t want that to happen.
I really think they should fix the game they have on their plates now and people need to SHUT UP about Sims 5…seriously. Some people think they are going to announce this “Sims 5” at E3…that is a huge joke. No they aren’t.
what a whole lot of nothing from an out of touch old woman who doesn’t even play games
In my opinion a combined online with offline component game doable. I have no problem with a game that have online option if it is opt out. There are a lot of games that already achieved the online game with mods. It depends on what kind of game do you play. Sims is basically a life simulator game but could have a multiplayer part where you can meet in game with other sims. Basically the base game is that but can be expanded to share a neighborhood with other players. The only thing what worries me is how EA will capitalize the game. The constant online function is silly and I think an opt out multiplayer will be added where you can pay for other creators to get their products. The game could have a much better editor like in 3d modelling programs where you can make your own stuff from scratch but also can download others projects then modify it on the level where you like it. A built in editor is necessary for the new sim game but an imporved ai, more realistic facial expressions and much better physics needed.