According to Rumors EA Canceled The Sims 5. We Shed Light on Confusion Over Recent Rumors About Maxis Studio
Fans of The Sims are unsure about the future of the brand after the recent news from Maxis studio, and even more so given the rumored cancellation of Project Rene (or The Sims 5).
There has been a rumor circulating on the Internet about the cancellation of Project Rene, which is supposedly The Sims 5. Such news spread across social media after YouTuber Berkay Bademoglu drew attention to the profile of a former EA Maxis studio employee.
Thomas Sincich has previously worked as the lead character designer in the team developing the most famous life simulator series (he is currently employed at Riot Games). In the list of the artist's achievements you can find a mention that he worked on The Sims 5 in the PlayStation 5 version, which was supposed to be "canceled."
Some internet users immediately interpreted this as confirmation that Project Rene had been abandoned. Thus, Electronic Arts would give up developing a continuation of The Sims 4 (which, after all, still receives DLC).
The Sims 5 not for PS5?
There is only one "but:" Sincich's profile clearly mentions a release on PlayStation 5. This is significant because we are discussing an artist who designs characters - and it is unlikely that the PS5 version would have different sim projects than the PC release.
It should be noted that the consoles on which Project Rene will be released have never been confirmed. The early version was only available on PC, and there is no indication that the fifth installment of The Sims will be released soon.
So it is possible that EA planned to release the fifth part on PS5, but eventually gave up on this idea either in favor of the next, yet unannounced generation of consoles, or even with the desire to focus on PCs.
Of course, it should also be noted that the lack of mention of a release on Xbox Series X/S may refute this thesis. The release of Project Rene exclusively on Microsoft consoles instead of the incomparably more popular Sony device seems like a curious decision.
Problems in EA Maxis
There is also another issue that needs to be addressed. In April, information appeared that Electronic Arts had joined the great wave of layoffs, which also affected the Maxis studio. Many people left the team responsible for The Sims development (via LinkedIn).
This would also align with the troubling information from February. Then we learned about the departure of Grant Rodiek, the director of the fifth Sims, from Maxis.
Moreover, some Internet users drew attention to the profiles of people still employed at the studio (via X). Some developers finished working on Project Rene in early April and transitioned to the team responsible for developing The Sims 4.
Is Project Rene The Sims 5?
So has EA actually canceled Project Rene? Not necessarily. There is one more option: abandoning the Unreal Engine. Most of the people who no longer work on this game specialized in working with this particular technology. Perhaps the publisher (or the developers themselves, supposedly having freedom of choice in this matter) decided that another engine would perform better than UE 5?
There is also another point that should be made: EA has made it clear from time to time that Project Rene isn't The Sims 5. The title was even supposed to exist next to the fourth part (via Maxis on YouTube).
So, was the fifth installment mentioned by Sincich a completely different project? One of the users of Reddit, who allegedly tested free Sims with... battle passes, mentions such a thing.
We emphasize that these are just speculations. EA hasn't responded to these rumors and for now, it seems that Project Rene is still in development - and at most, it won't be released on PS5 (at least not in a version based on Unreal Engine 5).
