I know it's early, but the Sims 5 environment prototypes look really good

(Image credit: EA)

The Sims 5 developer Maxis has given fans an early look at the upcoming game's environments, and they actually look really promising.

Earlier this week, Maxis shared a brief update on The Sims 5, aka Project Rene, which included early environment and character prototypes. We're probably still a few years away from playing The Sims 5 ourselves, and a lot is bound to change between now and then, but I'm already pretty impressed with the game's interior environment prototypes.

During the latest Behind the Sims stream, we got to see a prototype of an apartment from three different angles. The scene was created for the development team to showcase the upcoming game's lighting but I can't get over how cozy and lived-in this apartment feels. There's just so much to take in from each of the images, like all the small details such as the items on the bookshelf, the things decorating the fridge, and just all the other things that make a house a home.

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The Sims 5 prototype — (Image credit: EA)

As Stu, the art and visual effects director on The Sims 5, reveals during the stream, lighting plays a huge role in how these environments look and feel. In the case of the apartment shown above, it's clear that the lighting makes the whole space feel warm and welcoming. During the same stream segment, Stu also revealed that the new lighting technology will allow Maxis to create environments that "look great on your computer and your phone."

I'm not the only one pleasantly surprised by the latest Sims 5 update. Over on The Sims subreddit, one user feeling similar to me writes: "I know it's quite early, but I have to say, new environment looks really good for early stages." Several other Sims fans have also chimed in with their thoughts on how it's all looking, with another user adding in the comments: "My PC is absolutely SCREAMING right now."

The quality of the game's visuals would have to be taken into consideration if the game is set to work across both powerful PCs and smartphones. "The mobile aspect is where my doubts come in," one Reddit user explains, "I just have a bad feeling the graphics will be like in free play." We'll have to wait and see just how Maxis plans to tackle the graphics on various platforms.

We've still got some time to wait before Project Rene releases. To make it easier, here's games like the Sims you can play right now.

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.