The Sims 5 has multiplayer, but it's "not an MMO"

A few more details on The Sims 5 Project Rene were revealed today, and the developers do not want single-player fans feeling skittish about the game's multiplayer features.

"Now, one thing to keep in mind is that Project Rene is not an MMO," game director Grant Rodiek said in today's Behind The Sims stream. "It is not this public, shared space where everything you do is always with other people. You could play on your own, on your terms, and then again, when you want on your terms, you can invite others to come and play with you. That's the structure that we're pursuing, and we think that's really cool and perfect for The Sims."

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Project Rene is still very early in development, and while some players are already in playtests and providing feedback, Rodiek is still "years out". More tests will roll out in the future to let players provide feedback on the game, and we'll see "more details on that soon".

The game is also set to be cross-platform, and Rodiek says the existence of the mobile version will not lead to the PC experience being dumbed down, as some fans have feared. PC will provide the "true, rich experience that you're used to. But then, on the go, you can grab your phone and maybe it's a different experience, maybe you're grabbing archetypes, preselecting templates, or grabbing the stuff that you've already created."

Rodiek describes balancing the two versions as "a huge challenge", and it sounds like the team is still working out exactly how mobile and PC will work in concert with each other. But the two versions will allow you to access the same content, so you won't have to have separate sims and home designs on the different platforms.

Check out our guide to new PC games for everything you need to be excited about in 2023.