So, since we’ve been only recently founded (new kids on the block!) there’s a few perennial topics in the Sims fandom that we’ve yet to cover; and one of them is perhaps one of the most important, which is the upcoming Project Rene. With that in mind, what is Project Rene? Should we be excited? Afraid? Cautious? Let’s dig in and find out!
Not The Sims 5
To start it’s important to note one key distinction, Project Rene is not The Sims 5. While that was in development at one point, Project Rene is intended to be an entirely standalone entry and one that doesn’t necessarily succeed The Sims 4 as a new mainline entry.
This distinction was confirmed as far back as 2024 when then EA vice president and general manager of The Sims Kate Gorman confirmed that the intention was to focus on long-term support for The Sims 4. Although we got the chance to see some teasers of features like Apartment customisation way back in 2022 on the first episode of Behind The Sims.
So what actually is it?
Well, so far we’ve got a few key features to note about Project Rene:
- Multiplayer is a major focus, as is co-operation
- It’s cross-platform, or is being worked on as such, with playtests for mobile
- It’s not intended to be a mainline successor to The Sims 4
- There’s co-op gameplay like running a café together
- You’ll be able to customise your own apartment
Obviously the reason for no The Sims 5 (yet) is probably that the huge fanbase that The Sims 4 has cultivated over its decade-plus life cycle probably wouldn’t be happy about starting over again. Remember, The Sims 4 was originally blasted in the press for lacking many key details from The Sims 3, many of which were restored only later on.
A major source of news is not only the original EA blog talking about Project Rene and its ongoing playtests, but also a Reddit post containing alleged leaks and screenshots of said playtest; and one which sparked a heated debate about Project Rene and its raison d’être.
Pure Speculation (but with good reason)
Now this may (or may not) surprise you, but writing here on The Sims News is not the main hat I wear; except that instead of a hat it’s writing roles and- oh you know what I mean. And having written extensively about mobile gaming over on our sister site PocketGamer.com I can very much see many key trends in the wide world of that platform which can apply here.
First off, the most obvious is that EA is shooting for a version of The Sims that is cross-platform, which is one of the major buzzwords at the minute. One of the major issues with The Sims, purely from a business standpoint, is that having it be solely on PC misses out a huge chunk of players on platforms like PC and mobile.
With that in mind, the focus on multiplayer also makes sense, as does that of a focus on apartment customisation; think of the trend of the metaverse, which was a major discussion in game development in the early 2020s, and focused on the idea of living in a virtual reality. I’ve no doubt that was on the mind of at least some designers when they initially pitched certain features.
With that in mind, for my personal opinion (bordering on conspiracy theory) I’d bet that Project Rene might shift gears from focusing on The Sims as a “family simulator” to more of a lifestyle simulator, with you taking control of a single Sim with their own apartment while heading out to interact with other players socially and in minigames and other activities.
This would allow EA and Maxis to retain fan-favourite features like Sim customisation and home building, while also allowing them to shift focus to more of a social gaming platform; something that could complement The Sims 4 rather than supplant it.
So I’d hazard a guess that Project Rene may bear more than a passing similarity to something like Second Life, especially if there’s a big emphasis on multiplayer. And given the frosty reception to certain features like the grindathon Diner Dash style co-op café gameplay that the aforementioned leaker wrote about, it’s up in the air just how well Project Rene will be received when it does release.
