The Sims 5 Devs 'Definitely' Want Multiplayer, But One That Fits the Series
The multiplayer mode of Project Rene (unofficial: The Sims 5) will not be a „jump into a big scary world full of strangers,” but something closer to the solution known from Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
New game from The Sims series remains a great unknown, even after the release (and bootlegging) of an early version of the game. Apparently, this is not going to change anytime soon, since the developers of Project Rene are still even considering such an issue as the form of multiplayer mode.
That the next The Sims (popularly, though still unofficially, called The Sims 5) is to include a multiplayer mode, has been talked about as early as 2021. However, even during the last broadcast from the Behind the Sims series in September, nothing concrete was revealed.
Nevertheless, developers of Project Rene are determined to include a multiplayer mode in the game. This is assured by Lyndsay Pearson (vice president of brand creativity The Sims 4 and "The Sims 5") during the One More Life podcast (via Radio Times).
The designer added that the idea is not to add a "big scary world full of strangers" to the series, but to allow for shared gameplay with friends. For now, the developers are trying to define "shared gameplay" and how it can be introduced to fit in with The Sims:
"We're having a great time exploring all these possibilities, especially in the context of The Sims, because it's still supposed to be about these little characters, their little lives and how you direct them.
What does it mean to do it together? And how do we make a little bit of that chaos, that fun and that positive attitude come together in a way that fits The Sims?"
This premise may evoke associations with another well-known series. Pearson admitted that the team behind Project Rene is looking at Animal Crossing as a life simulator that executes the concept of cooperative play well. In doing so, the designer stressed that fans of Nintendo's series (more specifically: the latest installment) have found ways to play together in ways not supported by the game by default. What's more, the team is also looking at how "community" multiplayer works in Among Us.
So it looks like the developers are still trying to figure out what multiplayer mode should look like in The Sims. Let's hope that work on other elements of the game goes more smoothly and we won't have to wait another nine years for the debut. Assuming that it will indeed be a sequel to The Sims 4, and not - as speculated some fans - a spin-off.
