The Sims Project X Has Allegedly Passed The Prototype Stage: New Report

CAW vs Open Neighborhood

Statement: EA could easily squeeze out actual money if she shipped Create a World tool and Open Neighborhood unlocker for Sims 4 rather than this Marketflop

Sims Insider: I don't see those making much money to be completely honest. The amount of players utilising custom worlds in the Sims 3 was low. However an official version of the Tool mod would probably do well, being able to place items on the map outside the lot or something. Money though probably not but would be received well. EA wanted to monetise a final version of the create a world tool for the sims 3 but plans failed and they instead sold create a sim as a seperate product with the physical copies they already allocated to be produced. Bizarre decision. I can't recall if a final edition of the create a world was ever released digitally.

Project X Announcement and Other Projects

Statement: 2026 has been pretty disappointing for The Sims so far.

Maxis promised to share information about the "future of The Sims" (Project X), but their definition of "soon" is starting to feel pretty stretched. It's already July, and we still haven't seen anything official. Yes leak, and information, but nothing 100% official.

Seriously, what's going on at Maxis?

Sims Insider: They had two options of still pumping out more expansions like Royalty and Legacy or promise that they can keep engagement high with bug fixes and quality of life improvements. I think they made the right choice.

I think they will make some kind of reveal at some stage. But I don't think they want to rush things. Publicly announcing things means then having to set deadlines and all sorts. The longer they can keep X as just rumour and keep players engaged in the Sims 4 with just some quality of life fixes and updates, it works for everyone involved.

That said, they do have other products they are working on. Potentially they may see the light of day.

Project X UI and Sims Brands

Question: Do you have any idea of what the UI will look like for project X ?

Sims Insider: Seems very similar to the Sims 2. I saw a preview of one of the buy mode mock ups and it was very similar to the UI you see when you write a novel in the Sims 2. I can't link it here but it's the one with the book covers on the right, and icons to select from.

It allowed you to sort through a magazine type view and they had different fictional Sims brands or companies that you could click on and then browse images that categorised objects in the catalog by the fictional brands. So if you wanted to furnish your house with a brand that had similar aesthetics or something I imagine it would make it easy. It's a mock up, no idea whether it will make the final game. But it looked a very similar purple to the Sims 2.

I believe I was told the same thing for Create A Sim. Different brands and you could filter Create a Sim items by clicking on the brand.

I believe the idea was there would have some rabbit holes or stalls in the worlds tied to these brands so you can also by things in live mode and see those brands in the game. Not sure if it's final or a scrapped mock up, the UI I saw just had the same sims 4 plant repeated for every icon.

Everything I've seen has either been a prototype or mock up. I'm not sure if anything final has been any stage of development as I believe the prototypes were signed off only a month or so ago but don't quote me on that. It's been a long year and I lose track easily with my own project.

Quick Q&A Round

Question: I am seeing claims EA is considering dropping new expansion pack because they have a lot more work to do with Project X, so they don't have any dry time between Royalty & Legacy and Project X. Is there any truth in that?

Sims Insider: I don't believe any expansion pack is in the works, if it is it's being outsourced. All teams except for a in-house skeleton team are on the Sims 4, outsourcing resources or hiring temporary positions for bugs and other things.

Statement: Apparently, during the recent Project X playtest that ran from June 5 to June 12 in a survey format (I actually received an invitation too, but unfortunately wasn't selected for the final testing group), participants were shown a short teaser of Project X's Build Mode.

Sims Insider: I can't remember if I answered this but yes I do know a playest took place. In believe it was showing prototyping?

Question: since they don't want to develop a successor to The Sims 3, why can't they just remaster/remake or port TS3 to a new engine like UE5 and bring it to modern platforms?

Sims Insider: 9/10 remakes often sell less than their original releases so there's no real money to be made here. unless it was base game only.

Statement: i actually find it very strange why they didn't bring the PC versions of TS1, TS2 and TS3 to consoles, like hello? you have 100M+ people on PS5, you can sell all these DLCs to them, i'm pretty sure TS4 DLCs sold singificantly compared to previous generations because it was the first Sims title on console that came with the full PC experience and have all the DLCs to purchase, TS3 on PS3 didn't have that, neither TS2 for PS2.

Sims Insider: For Sims 1 and 2 it was hardware bound. The PlayStation 2 era wasn't enough.

for the Sims 3, this was actually planned. The Sims 3 sold well initially on console, so they planned to bring other packs out officially as well. Not all of them, but the big hitters. Supernatural was going to be the third console release. However as Sims 3's popularity dwindled, Pets underperformed on console and it was scrapped. The only thing that did get released was the Sims Supernatural Mobile game, as EA had a mobile version for every console release.

Question: Do you know if EA/Maxis still plans to launch Project X late this year?

Sims Insider: I believe prototypes were only signed off a month or so ago. So probably not. That said, because they're utilising what I believe is a modernised Sims 4 engine for the game, once the prototypes were built, building the game won't be as long as a typical sims game because it's just a matter of building it and upgrading the tech. For the Sims 3 and 4 for example, once the prototypes were built, they had to build it from nothing. I have no idea how long it will take them with pretty much all of Maxis on the job.

Statement: I do wonder how open neighborhood will run on lower laptops. 

Sims Insider: Maxis are legends at getting so much out of absolutely nothing. But it won't be as forgiving as The Sims 4 for sure.

Questions: When you open new game, do they automatically drag you into CAS mode or do they let you pick neighborhood townies like in the Sims 2?

Do townies have their own storyline lore?

Sims Insider: I don't even think Maxis know at this stage. From what I know, it's only left the prototype stage. I don't think there's much of a game yet.

Statement: I don't think anyone has seen a build of project X, either in closed door sessions or leaks. It still feels extremely early and at the concept phase. Even an announcement feels way out. EA don't seem to be in a rush (for good or bad)

Sims Insider: I think the most that has been shown is prototypes and mockups.

Future Sims 4 Collab - New Clue

Author note: is the Sims insider potentially teasing a Hunger Games collaboration?

The Sims Project X Expectations

Sims Insider: The Sims 4 is basically getting polished up and the goal internally is to sunset the game in a much better state than the previous game was left. They want it to be as polished as possible, because it also makes it easy for them to liberate content for X later on, so it's win win.

I'm not certain on this but it would not surprise me all of these quality of life upgrades are also being done so X can literally CTRL C and CTRL P to make development as fast as possible. It's one team helping the next team.

Don't expect huge content from here on out though, Sims 4's engagement levels are still incredibly high, it surprisingly did better this June than it did last June. Not sure about July.

One thing I did hear is that they're looking at Rene and X and how things will work together and they're exploring the idea of X leaning into Rene's visual identity a bit more, than just the Sims 4's identity, to help streamline so they feel like the same product line rather than two very different products.

I also believe they're discussing what the rollout for the product will be and I believe they're looking at a Tier 2 type rollout over a Tier 1. In simple terms, unlike the Sims 1 - 4 which had a Tier 1 rollout with big reveals at conventions or public announcements etc, they'll go with a Tier 2 rollout with mostly digital promotions and interviews and no big stage announcements etc. like Sims 4 had.

This is something EA typically do for its smaller games or AA titles, which may indicate how The Sims franchise will be considered moving forward. I don't think EA are currently interested in The Sims being a Tier 1 product anymore but that's still being decided. They have mixed predictions on how X will go with The Sims 4 having so much dominance expected even years to come. They're more confident than a Sims 5 however.

There's even been discussions of them simply upgrading the Sims 4 base game with a paid next gen upgrade and then allowing people in playtests to see which content they would also want upgraded from most to least, if it came to that. Not sure if they've settled on an idea because the whole reason for titling it X was simply because the idea had to be adaptable to a multitude of ideas. A next gen upgrade, a new standalone game, an official remaster/remake etc.

X fits into all of these if required and all they had to worry about was deciding which one they'd sell it as. Which as why an actual Sims 5 was never on the table, even if they call it that.

you'll understand when you play the product but X could basically be branded as any of those ideas because it was designed to fit any of those ideas for Sims 4. It just came down to which they think would sell better.

So don't be shocked if you buy the new game and it feels like a remaster or remake or feels like a next gen version or vice versa because X was always designed to be adaptable to any of these if required. Let me know if I've badly explained this so I can explain better if needed.

Questions: There's just one thing I'm still not sure I understand. Have they still not decided how they want to position this game?

Is there still a possibility that they could ultimately present it as a major upgrade for The Sims 4? Or has the decision already been made that it will be released as a separate game?

Sims Insider: I don't 100% know I just know that X was designed so they could position it with whatever they wanted when the time comes. Same product. But could be "The Sims 4 Remake" or "The Sims 4 Remastered" or "The Sims X title" and it would work for all of those types of ideas with no real development required to change direction for how they plan to position it to the public. Ea will decide that toward the end of development based on the product and the climate but also where the Sims 4 is at in that point of time too.

Whatever decision is made it won't be an "update" to the Sims 4, the Sims 4 as you know it will be sunset and never updated at some point, but X could be a "pay $X to get the next gen version" or you just buy the remaster/remake/standalone game instead.

I have a feeling it will be one of the last 3. EA has purposely wanted X to be something versatile, hence why the X name was chosen rather than the typical code name (Lotus, Rene and so forth).

On the Open Worlds

Sims Insider: I read some posts in reaction to my previous one with open world debates etc. and it's so crazy how things get misinterpreted or people take an inch and run a mile.

People saying crazy things like "if GTA can be open world, so can a Life Sim" or people not understanding why EA/Maxis have no interest in an open world life sim again and labeling it lazy (which ironically is kind of a lazy statement of those people but whatever, pot calling kettle etc).

Once you get to open neighbourhoods and open worlds it's honestly not a workload of a jump, so it's not "laziness" it's just design. The people at Maxis work really hard, I've seen them work hours away on the smallest of things and people don't understand that not all work is fully visible in scope.

An artist will draw a concept and then have to continuously scale down their work to fit the Sims 4 requirements while keeping artistic integrity intact. They have to continuously scale and rework ideas and concepts for every part of the game to fit requirements and needs and optimisation and that itself can mean hundreds of hours of man hours to take ideas and work them to fit nearly impossible system requirements. Where the work load for a more modern game may be even easier because those limitations aren't in place and they can just go for it and it gets done much faster. Even more, they just rely on Unreal Engine's existing tech,

Things are so much more complicated than people realise and it reminds me whenever I discuss things publicly that often only other developers will get it and that it will fly over the public's head. Sometimes it's easier to put out a well detailed smaller sized Unreal Engine 5 game from scratch than a Sims expansion pack. Developers who come to the Sims who previously only worked on games that scale requirements to the game itself, rather than a pre-determined audience like the Sims get a wake up call. It's interesting once you're in to see the world of how things work.

Clarifying Some Answers on Project X

Sims Insider: 2026 is still on the table, I just don't think it will happen. I made it clear I don't actually know how long it will take from here.

Plus I never said it will it will resemble Project Rene, I simply said it's leaning into its visual identity as well as Sims 4's so there's visual consistency. The same way The Sims Mobile leans into The Sims 4's visual identity. It allows them to easily share assets amongst other things but it just means both games will feel like they belong to the same product line.

Whatever that looks like is still being decided it's just something they're making sure to consider.

Another thing, a Tier 2 product may be announced at a major event, it's just less likely and likely more digital based. They may do an in person announcement at an event but I just don't expect the millions of dollars poured into TV advertising, back to back live events, and so on. Probably just one announcement and the rest digital.

Question: Do you know if they have any improvements planned for the 'Create-a-Sim' mode and for the Sims' personalities/traits?

Sims Insider: I believe improvements will be across the board but I can't tell you what specifically.

Statement: I don't understand why EA is sidelining The Sims franchise if 4 is performing above expectations repeatedly.

Sims Insider: It's to save them from over investing in a game that may not take off as well as their current hero product. They're just being careful. Also the Sims is managed under EA's mobile division, which could also change things. It moved there back in 2015 I believe.

Whatever the case is, 4's identity isn't something they want to lose as it's consistently the most successful year after year the franchise has been since 2007 or so.

Statement: It looks like Maxis wants to take their time, and that's fine I understand. It seems like it won't be a repeat of the Sims 4 launch situation. However, their deadline of late 2026 was quite surprising; I didn't believe it, and naturally, this confirms that it was impossible.

Sims Insider: I don't believe 2026 was ever a deadline, more like a working target. Then they reevaluate targets on a regular basis. Depending on business needs is whether the target shifts or not. But all games have to have some kind of target even if there's no backing that it will be ready. That's where issues involving development hell come up because no one's ideas think about time frames.

Things can also still change. The Sims 4 UI changed a few weeks before its public reveal in 2013. So nothing is set in stone.

...anything involving products older than Sims 4 seem very unlikely from what I know when it comes to EA's views on previous titles. The Sims 1 and 2 were done as love to the fans but EA has no real commitment to the past simply because 4's numbers are so insanely large. It's like putting Roblox next to IMUV and asking a company which one they would rather invest in.

My Sims is possible but I have no idea in regards to it.Quote