The Sims 5

About The Sims 5

On October 18, 2022, the continuation of The Sims series was finally announced.

However, not on the scale that the fans were waiting for: the developers showed the draft of the future game under the working title Project Rene, and explained that the title is at an early stage of production and will not be released until 2024.

This name refers to the renaissance of the series - with the release of The Sims 5, the franchise is waiting for a real revival. At least that's what the authors of the game tell us.

We still know very little about the new project. The developers report that they will radically change the way Sims think and behave, as well as introduce completely new ways to create and customize game worlds. This could mean more flexibility in terms of user customization for both Sims and environments.

In addition, the authors noted that players will have a choice - to play alone or cooperate with others, which hints at the emergence of multiplayer elements or even a full-fledged MMO component. There has also been talk of The Sims 5 being playable on supported devices, which will likely expand beyond PCs and home consoles. We would bet that the title will be available on computers, consoles, mobile platforms and cloud services, which means that gamers will be able to play anywhere.

One of The Sims 5's biggest upgrades over previous games in the series could be the large open world to explore and the lack of loading screens. Unfortunately, there is nothing revolutionary in this - rather, it is a necessity. In the past, many games in the series, including The Sims 3 (and even the game on the Nokia N-Gage smartphone), allowed the characters to move freely, but this part has been abandoned in the current part.

A big world where you can go to work, hang out and come home is a basic need. In addition, it can include many other moments such as walking in the park with the kids, romantic dates and hanging out with friends, which will make The Sims 5 a full-fledged virtual world that you won’t want to leave. PCs have become very powerful, and NVIDIA RTX graphics cards are more than capable of displaying such a large world even at 4K resolution.

And not only PCs - almost every gaming device, whether it be consoles or even smartphones, has enough hardware for this. The gaming industry is moving towards a streaming future where you can play the newest part of The Sims on your smartphone using cloud technology and better graphics. There is nothing difficult in the implementation of the map and the ability to interact with other players in long multiplayer games (although this already resembles World of Warcraft, right?).

DRIVING CARS

The open world gameplay involves the presence of vehicles so that the player can get to the right place by car, motorcycle or bicycle. The Sims 5 is bound to let us steer.

The developers' stupid excuses about why they don't give players cars don't work anymore. Even in the mentioned N-Gage phone game, you could ride a bike.

The ability to move between maps in vehicles should make the game more coherent and user friendly, similar to large games like The Witcher 3.

PARENTS AND CHILDREN

After the release of The Sims 4, players were very disappointed that it did not immediately have toddlers, and many of the basic gameplay features were carried over into the expansion. After a terrible explosion of discontent, some of them were presented as free updates. We hope that parents and toddlers in The Sims 5 will be available at launch, like other popular content from previous games in the series.

FULL CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION AND GROWTH SYSTEM

The growing up system in The Sims 4 is really bad and needs to be fixed in the new game. Judging by the dreams of fans on the forums, the new game with a completely overhauled engine should allow players to completely change the appearance of their characters, including skin color, eyes, hair, tattoos, physique, etc. This will allow players to immerse themselves more in the process and stand out from the crowd.

AVAILABILITY OF MAJOR DLC AT LAUNCH

Players hope for the availability of most of the content already at the start, as part of the game. In particular, this applies to babies and pools. But equally interesting is access to several big DLCs without having to wait several months, as it has been until now.

More content will help boost sales of The Sims 5, and players won't get bored without having to wait for the next big DLC. Newcomers new to the series will also find it interesting to understand the reason for the hype, and buying additional content immediately after the release of the base game will provide a more complete experience.

THE SIMS 5 IN VIRTUAL REALITY

The biggest hype around the game is related to the support of virtual reality right at the start. The series, to the surprise of many, was released on the PS4 and Xbox One consoles, despite the initial lack of suitable controls to achieve PC-like freedom. Perhaps we are waiting for another similar innovation.

A post was published on Reddit, later deleted due to copyright issues, in which they were interested in the opinion of players about the game in virtual reality glasses from Oculus, HTC or other companies.

OPTIMIZED FOR PS5 AND XBOX SERIES

Obviously, the game will be focused on PC and new consoles and designed to fully utilize the power of their hardware. With the impressive power of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles, Sims 5 developers will have endless possibilities to create a truly open world with a huge number of characters simultaneously on the screen, transparent integration with smartphones, and possibly virtual reality, such as PSVR2.

Relatively recently, Microsoft added mouse and keyboard support to its Xbox One console. This is a continuation of their strong support for PC gamers with cross-platform play and Play Anywhere features. By launch, there won't be much difference between playing The Sims 5 with a keyboard and mouse on PC or Xbox, so it's a great fit for the consoles of the future.

At the moment, the developers have not made any exclusive announcements for consoles. But if The Sims 5 becomes more popular on the new generation of Microsoft and Sony consoles, we may well see temporary or permanent exclusive clothing or item sets in the future.

SINGLE AND MULTIPLAYER MODES

The source of this information is none other than Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson. At a meeting with investors, he deeply revealed the theme of the development of The Sims as a series. He then added that The Sims Online was a completely unique product that existed when the Internet was not yet ready for multiplayer games.

However, times have changed a long time ago, and almost every new game now has an online component. Projects like Fortnite and PUBG attract millions of players every day. Following this trend, the EA CEO confirmed that he would be happy to bring multiplayer back to the game. And let Maxis develop the game, it is hardly surprising that Electronic Arts, as a publisher, will also have some influence on the look of the new game.

The Sims 5 will be predominantly a single-player game, like most other games of recent times. But a separate team is likely working on a multiplayer version that will allow players to collaborate on a very serious level.

Theoretically, in this regard, the game could be similar to Minecraft and allow players to develop, create communities, build houses and communicate with each other. At the same time, this may be due to some disparity associated with the various expansions and sets that players own, which in turn may lead to a model similar to "battle royale". The idea is to attract more players and let them buy skins, themes and other packages.

THE SIMS 5 FREE ONLINE

At the moment, this is a completely unconfirmed rumor from the category of "wishlist" of some players, but it cannot be completely discounted. The point is to take the step towards battle royale and make The Sims 5 a free online version available to the massive community of players. This will lead to the formation of a completely new audience that will be able to play in a multiplayer community like the one that the EA CEO talked about.

The source of this rumor is a post on Reddit where players wondered if Maxis would follow in the footsteps of Call of Duty and many other popular games. When top games attract millions of players, it doesn't hurt to join them. In addition, Electronic Arts has already released Apex Legends, a free-to-play battle royale. The continuation of this idea would attract millions of players online, and the sale of cosmetic items would bring in the income necessary to maintain the servers.

THE SIMS 5 ON NINTENDO SWITCH

The most popular request among gamers is a portable version of the game that can be played on the go. Considering how often it appears on the Internet, the game, in the end, can still go on Nintendo Switch. Sony's PS Vita has finally gone the distance, so Nintendo has no competitors in the portable segment. Streaming options are also possible, but for games as unique as The Sims, which require a physical controller, mouse, and keyboard to play properly, these have yet to be finalized.

Considering that the new The Sims 5 is sure to have advanced graphics, a port of it on the Nintendo Switch is just a rumor at the moment, but it is quite possible. In the end, there is definitely no point in porting the old The Sims 4 to Switch now. Instead, you should direct resources to create a much better game.

In addition, the powerful technical features of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles will play a significant role in enhancing the quality of the game. With an NVMe SSD, they can provide near-instantaneous loading, the ability to jump right back in where you left off, and PC-like peripheral connectivity to play The Sims the way it was meant to be.

WHAT WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO SEE IN THE SIMS 5?

MICROTRANSACTIONS

Electronic Arts and Maxis should definitely fix a lot of the mistakes made in the current game. The responsibility lies primarily with the publisher, who needs to know that the Sims community will never approve of things like microtransactions, even though people are happy to buy add-ons, play sets, and other DLC released throughout the game's life cycle.

UNNECESSARY ADDITIONS

When players are forced to buy content that should have been in the base game, this is also unacceptable. The most important content should be available at launch, and players who are willing to pay $20 or more for their favorite game can be delighted with exciting new additions. Battlefield V dropped the Premium Pass because it was divisive in the community, Battlefront II fixed the microtransaction system - EA is changing its approach, and this is a good sign for The Sims 5.