The Sims 5 Release Date And Is The Sims 5 officially titled “Project Renee”?

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The Sims 5 Release Date: Even though The Sims 5 is still years away, Electronic Arts have promised to showcase content as it is created. The long-awaited announcement of The Sims 5 has here, and Electronic Arts have surprised us all by immediately beginning to release teasers for the upcoming main Sims game.

Maxis has announced that it is actively creating the Sims 5, though this may not be the ultimate name, shortly after making the base game Sims 4 free-to-play and promising continuing gameplay improvements and DLCs.

Maxis is even committed to showing off some of its in-production features years in advance, which is unlike the development of previous Sims games. We still have a lot of questions, but some of our speculations have been answered concerning the future Sims game.

Everything we know about the next Sims game, from confirmed features to rumored additions, from gameplay videos to new feature announcements, is outlined below.

Is the Sims 5 Officially Titled “Project Renee”?

True, but probably only for the time being. According to Maxis, “Project Rene” is just a codename for the upcoming Sims title. Although these are often reserved for use within the studio, sometimes they make it to the public eye before the game has even been announced.

Project L by Riot is a good example. Maxis has been calling the upcoming Sims game the “next generation” of Sims and a “creative platform,” so it's safe to assume that it won't be called “Project Rene” or “The Sims 5” when it's released.

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When Will the Sims 5 Be Available for Purchase?

The next Sims game has not been allocated a release date or year by Electronic Arts. It's safe to assume that The Sims 5 won't be released until at least 2024, given that Maxis claimed it will reveal behind-the-scenes glimpses at development “over the following few years” after the game was first unveiled as Project Rene in October 2022.

You should also know that Maxis intends for The Sims 5 to be around for quite some time after it is released. Electronic Arts released The Sims 4 in 2014, and it appears they hope the “next generation” of The Sims will be just as successful.

During the unveiling of Project Rene, Lyndsay Pearson, the company's vice president of creativity, remarked, “I have the opportunity to assist shepherd the franchise into the next decade and beyond.” Though that was mostly empty corporate jargon, I think it's safe to conclude that the next Sims game will have a longer shelf life.

Check Out a Peek at Some Early Sims 5 Gameplay

Maxis admitted that the gameplay and visuals demonstrated at 2022 Behind the Sims Summit were still in the early stages of development. A very small amount of early gameplay footage was shown to us, but only in the most general sense.

Here are some of the features we've seen:

  • The Create-A-Style tool from Sims 3 is back
  • Cross-platform multiplayer build mode
  • Uploading a custom selection of furniture layout to the Gallery
  • Modular furniture editing, including accent pieces
  • Multiple-axis rotation, at least for accent pieces

Fans of Build Mode will be pleased to hear that Create-A-Style has returned, especially since modular parts have been added to the mode. From the get-go, it was clear that players will have the freedom to mix and match furniture components such as a bed's headboard and footboard, as well as alter their color schemes and patterns.

We also noticed a lot of throw pillows and blankets in the first Project Rene video, which is an improvement over the prior styling tool. Apartment lot kinds are another possible piece of the initial reveal that people are wondering about. When we initially saw the film it was editing, the space did appear to be one connected unit.

Will the Sims 5 Have a Multiplayer?

True, there will be multiplayer in The Sims 5, however, the extent of this “collaboration” has been vaguely described by Maxis.

“Our goal with Project Rene is to streamline collaboration and information dissemination. You may have fun and make stuff either alone or with friends, “Pearson stated during the unveiling of Project Rene. This means that the degree to which you engage in online play is a matter of personal preference.

During the 2022 Sims Summit, developers did demonstrate cross-platform play between a desktop computer and a mobile device. It looked as if both gadgets were editing the same room at the same time, setting furniture where it should go.

We don't yet know what Maxis has in store for online multiplayer in Live Mode. These brief remarks came from Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson in a 2020 earnings call.

According to Wilson, “this notion of social interactions and competition like the kind of things that were present in The Sims Online many, many years ago” will start to become a part of The Sims experience in the years to come as Maxis continues to think about The Sims for a new generation across platforms and a cloud of a neighborhood world.

The phrase “social interactions and competitiveness” in Wilson's answer is quite intriguing, but we need more information about it before we can draw any conclusions.

We have to question if EA and Maxis are aiming for a genuine new MMO Sims game when they bring up the Sims Online brand. Even if it appears highly improbable, you can bet that online multiplayer will be included in the future Sims game.

Will Sims 5 Support Mods and Custom Content?

We can't say for sure, but there is a substantial body of player-made content spread over multiple Sims games. It's hard to imagine that Maxis wouldn't take the same strategy with Sims 5 and open the doors wide for custom content, given how popular Sims 4 mods continue to be today and how The Sims 4 is getting official mod support with a CurseForge center.

There has been no official word yet on when or in what form this will be available for The Sims 5, if at all.

Are There Any Sims 5 Leaks in the Wild?

Even though The Sims 5 won't be out for a while, this bucket has some leaks. In November of 2022, a now-deleted Reddit account posted some monitor shots of early Sims 5 playtest gameplay, marking the first genuine leaks of the game.

Those images have been shared again and again on social media platforms like Twitter and elsewhere. While it's wise to treat all rumors with skepticism, the consistency between the Sims 5 presentation and these photographs lends credence to the idea that they are true. 

In addition, they provide the first look at the game's neighborhood perspective, hint that player-designed residences will be included in the game's core feature set, and show off a bit of the feature ecosystem surrounding such items. 

The Sims 5 Release Date Final Words

There is currently no confirmed date or year for the next Sims game from Electronic Arts. It's safe to assume that The Sims 5 won't be released until at least 2024, given that Maxis claimed it will reveal behind-the-scenes glimpses at development “over the following few years” after the game was first unveiled as Project Rene in October 2022.