They’ve said it once, and they’ve said it again. The Sims 5 is not happening, folks. For anyone thinking they were being coy or secretive about it, this should be the final nail in the coffin. Not only have they stated it’s not coming, but this time they’ve gone a step further and explained why.
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Why It’s Not Happening
In a recent interview Variety sat down with EA Entertainment’s president Laura Miele and she had this to say about The Sims 5.
“What I wouldn’t want to have happen is you to have to start from day zero and start from scratch and give up all of the things that you have created, give up all of the content that you’ve purchased over the years. We put out over 85 content packs over the last 10 years on ‘The Sims 4,’ and so resetting that is not player friendly and not a good idea for our community.”
Laura Miele
Specifically, there has been 93 content packs released for Sims 4 at the time of this article–19 expansion packs, 12 game packs, 20 stuff packs, and 42 kits. At the time of this writing, while most packs are currently on sale, the Steam DLC collection for Sims 4 looks like this.
Note: The Steam page is not entirely accurate because it says there are 99 DLC, but they mistakenly list multiple of time twice, such as the Horse Ranch expansion pack. So, this number is not entirely true.
While many players expected Sims 4 to follow the path of previous Sims titles, with DLC releases for several years and then a sequel title being announced, EA decided to make Sims 4 a live service game instead. Looking at video games as a whole, this is becoming the new industry standard.
With the rising cost of video game production, and the inherent time it takes to make them from scratch versus creating content for an already released game, it makes sense. Opinions, as opinions always manage to be, are divided on whether or not this is a positive for player experience.
Reasons Players Want The Sims 5
Seemingly from the first moment Sims 4 released players were asking for a Sims 5. The sentiment was that the foundation for Sims 4 was too fragile and underdeveloped to support the game they had hoped for. Flash forward to nearly 11 years later, endless updates and content releases, and that sentiment somehow still manages to exist within the player base.
The thought seems to be that a Sims 5 release will somehow fix all of the issues that players have with Sims 4. The problem is that it wouldn’t. There’s a “grass is always greener” mentality about the game that players don’t have but imagine they could. If a Sims 5 ever released, it would never meet the expectations that players have.
I guarantee what it would do is make players look more fondly at Sims 4. It happens every single time a new Sims series releases. During Sims 3’s run players complained about how poorly optimized and programmed it was, how many game breaking issues it had, how often it crashed, how their computers couldn’t run it, how overpriced the Sims 3 Store was, how ugly the style was especially the Sims themselves, and how the launcher literally told you not to install too many packs you paid for because the game couldn’t handle all of them at one time.
Once Sims 4 released, everyone has been looking back at their memories of Sims 3 as if it was the most stable, most gorgeous, most perfect game ever created. The same would absolutely happen with Sims 4 once a Sims 5 would release. Plus, it’s important to consider that The Sims 5 could have released even worse than Sims 4.
Other players are just burnt out on Sims 4. After over a decade with one game, and almost 100 content releases, it begins to feel repetitive no matter what is added. A lot of the systems start to blur together or feel rehashed. Players would rather start anew with something that hopefully feels fresh and exciting.
Another thing players want in The Sims 5 is a different art style and aesthetic than that of Sims 4. From its inception many players did not emotionally connect with the style chosen and would prefer something more realistic like that of Sims 3. This is another opinion that is greatly divided between players.
Reasons to Stick with The Sims 4
As Miele said, it would be hard for a lot of players to move on. It’s a lot to ask of players to drop a game they’ve spent well over a grand on and start over from square one. For lifetime players that have been playing from the beginning, it would be a pretty tough sell to tell them it’s time to do it all over again for the fifth time.
There’s only so many times you can expect players to buy a Seasons or Pets expansion pack for a fourth or fifth time, for instance. EA knows this, which is why they’re opting to continue the development of Sims 4 instead of moving onto The Sims 5.
For those that have stuck with Sims 4 from the start, it’s absurd looking back at the game we started with to the game we have now. It’s entirely different, at this point. So much has been added and changed and updated and continues to do so.
They’ve said previously that they’re at a point in the life of The Sims 4 where they’re focusing more heavily on updating the foundation of the game while also still releasing new content. Refreshing parts of the game could be all that is needed to keep Sims 4 feeling fresh and exciting instead of having to move on to a new game.
With Project Rene being developed as a completely different style of Sims game instead of being Sims 5, it means players can stick with the Sims 4 collection they’ve built up over the years while still having a new Sims experience. Previously when a new Sims game released, even if a player liked the previous version better, development ceased for the past title. This is not the case with Project Rene and The Sims 4. Players who want a new experience can focus on Project Rene, players who love Sims 4 will still have new content released for them, and everyone wins.
In the words of Hannah Montana, it really is the best of both worlds.
Reader Opinions
So, what are your thoughts? Are you fully connected to Sims 4? Or are you ready to move on?
Did you want a Sims 5, or are you happy with Project Rene being a different style of Sims game?
We have a poll below to gather your quick thoughts, but feel free to leave more in-depth thoughts in the comments below.
I want The Sims 5
I’m connected to The Sims 4 for the Mods/CC and DLC
I want better gameplay and more customization in The Sims 5
I have almost every DLC (stopped at Businesses & Hobbies and missing 14 Kits)
I have over 1000 hours in The Sims 4
At this stage of the game, after 10 years of playing and yet I have all the DLC, and with still so much lack of gameplay and bugs, and a boredom and weariness that only grows, I am clearly ready to move on to something else. The desire is no longer there.
It could be you are tired of playing the same way. I’m guilty of playing generally the same Sims, using the same clothes, furniture, worlds and so on. Even if I start out with a different sort of Sim it ends up turning out about the same. I’m not giving up on the game, a lot of that has to do with the money I’ve spent on it! So I’m trying challenges and new ways of playing.
I don’t want another version of the Sims. If EA has to split their focus with a new version the problems with Sims 4 are less likely to get attention, new content will be slow, and it will cost me far too much to move from Sims4.
I feel the amount of content with Sims is overwhelming. Yes, I have most of the pack and etc. Usually there was one reason I decided to buy each pack and the rest came along with it. Some I like and some I really don’t like or have never started using even years later. I think the best solution for EA is to give players more control over the content in the game. Let people choose what to turn off and what to keep on. Not just with CAS and Build but things like Milestones, collectibles, etc etc etc. Letting players limit game features could make it simpler to play and not need to spend hours sorting out and trying to understand the game and all its parts. People could turn things on or off as they play. Limiting the feeling of having too much, too many options.
The sentiment that the foundation is bad SOMEHOW still exists? For real? It’s because it is a bad foundation. Every patch something else breaks. Expansions don’t work as intended. 10 year old bugs and limitations still exist and will always exist. And forget about pack refreshes. How long ago was the one for Spa Day? And is there any new one on the horizon? Doubt it.
And how interesting you included the Sims 3s DLC warning, as if you can have all 90+ packs enabled in 4 without problems.
And this has been said every time. Just because a new game comes out, doesn’t mean you suddenly aren’t allowed to play 4 again. Keep playing it. Give EA your thousand dollars to play a still incomplete and half baked game.
A sequel is necessary to modernize and actually create a good foundation. EA is a multimillion dollar company. Theres no excuse for them to not be able to put resources towards a new, stable game. Quit making excuses with this apologetic puff peace.
Touch biased with the article, are we? Lots of criticizing the reasons players would want a sequel without as much criticism of the reasons EA is sticking with TS4. Also, continuing on with the idea that people would straight up stop playing TS4 the moment TS5 would drop, even if they’d sunk so much money into TS4.
Also, either there’s a typo in the playtime survey question or it’s missing the entire 101-999 hour playtime range.
I don’t even mind TS4. I like a lot of its features, especially the expanded sex and gender customization and its build mode tools, and I like its graphics compared to earlier games. And I certainly remember the long load times and choppiness of TS3! But I have yet to see a live service game pull off a complete, down-to-the-bones overhaul like TS4 needs, and since they’ve also stopped pack refreshes, the pack situation puts players and developers between a rock and a hard place – either end up doing repetitive packs (which don’t feel unique enough, add redundant systems, are DLC for DLC, etc) or never touch on a feature again (so if you don’t like the pet stuff that came with Cats and Dogs, for example, tough luck).
Like, there’s already aspirations from at least two different packs (HSY and Cottage Living) I straight up have not been able to complete because the systems from those packs have been broken for years. The more packs they make, the more packs they abandon – and how is that any better than stopping development for one game to create another?
I play the game with all DLC’s… do I have all of them? hmm….
sims 5 would be bound to be shit anyways but hey, what have the past 10 years of the sims 4 prepared me for?
my other hobbies besides being a negative nancy (landgraab) is setting fire to orphanages and kicking cats.
I do not hate 4, even if it arguably deserved it some points in its lifespan. Even when it eventually gets a sequel I will likely replay it from time to time, like 1-3.
However, even back at the 2014 launch everyone knew the game was built on pillars of sand and it showed its age incredibly quickly. Tech debt in code snowballs even with a solid foundation, so 4 will only get worse and worse unless they can stop adding things long enough to basically rewrite the entire game code from top to bottom (over a decade’s worth!).
And let’s face it: if they were really ever willing to do that they would just make the sequel because it would be easier…
So yeah, I am ready for 5, if for no other reason than the hope 4 is left in a playable state when they move on to it.
This is a very biased article and clearly written by someone with the perspective that the game shouldn’t be improved upon. The sims franchise is not the only game on the market. Games release sequels and improve upon the game with each subsequent release. The excuse that the game would still have issues is illegitimate and the developers should be held to a higher standard of perfecting a game prior to release. It’s clear that this is just a cash grab from the team as it appears the newest installment of the sims will be continued microtransactions as opposed to outright purchases. Shame to see where the franchise has headed and an even further shame to see the fans enable it.