The Sims 5 announced as Project Rene, will include "collaborative play"

The Sims 4 High School Years expansion — (Image credit: EA)

EA and Maxis officially announced The Sims 5 today during the Behind The Sims Summit Stream - though the studios are not calling it that. We heard rumors that The Sims would be announced in October, and it looks like those rumors have come true.

The "next generation Sims game" is being referred to as Project Rene, a phrase "chosen to be reminiscent of words like renewal, renaissance, and rebirth to represent the developer’s renewed commitment for The Sims’ bright future," according to the official press release. We're still gonna call it The Sims 5, though.

The Behind The Sims Summit Stream also gave us a "very early behind-the-scenes" look at "what Project Rene will grow to be," and it will certainly delight Sims builders. Not only can you potentially change the size of objects, but their patterns, colors (presented as a color wheel like in The Sims 3 "create-a-style"), and even shapes. But what really got me (and undoubtedly others) excited was the advanced placement tools shown off in the brief clip. The cushions can be rotated, titled, and moved in ways that could only previously be done with The Sims 4 cheats, which often messed with actual gameplay.

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The Sims 5 will also offer Simmers a choice to play solo or collaborate with others across "supported devices," but it's not clear how exactly EA and Maxis will flesh that feature out. It looks like you can pull build items from the game on your mobile device, and it will be reflected in-game on every platform connected to it. But will The Sims 5 be full-blown multiplayer in a shared world like The Sims 4 multiplayer mod? Will there be crossplay? We've got no details just yet, but that's likely because EA and Maxis have stated that The Sims 5 journey has just started, and will take place "over the next few years."

Pass the time until the launch of The Sims 5 with these games like The Sims.

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.