The Sims has finally broken its silence and, unfortunately, it’s not good news for anyone hoping for a classic single-player experience from the next entry in the series. In a blog posted on the official EA site on Jan. 9, The Sims team laid out what to expect from 2026 while also attempting to reassure fans that the recent buy out (by investors like Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund) won’t change the fundamental values of the series.
The core focus of the latest blog post was slowly breaking the news to fans that the next Sims title is officially a multiplayer mobile game, but that it will work in tandem with The Sims 4 rather than serving as its successor. This update isn’t exactly surprising after the years of leaks surrounding Project Rene, but the confirmation is still slightly disappointing for fans hoping for The Sims 5.
Project Rene is officially a multiplayer-focused mobile game
The major focus of The Sims 2026 roadmap was to finally confirm what Project Rene is and how it relates to The Sims 4. Before confirming what Project Rene is, the blog post did reaffirm that The Sims is “committed to single-player life simulation experiences” and that “single-player PC and console experiences will always be a part of our future, with more than half of our global development team dedicated to The Sims 4 and the next evolution”.
The amount of reassurances that the blog gave before even delving into what Project Rene is seems to hint to the fact that Maxis and EA know fan reactions to a new mobile game won’t be exactly ecstatic.
The announcement stated that “Project Rene has evolved into a social, collaborative, mobile-first life-sim game,” while once again reassuring fans that “it is not the successor to The Sims 4 and is a separate experience from any future deep, single player life simulation experience”. Even after a play test in September 2024, not too much information was given about Project Rene, beyond that it would be mobile and allow friends to play together.
What’s the next mainline title for The Sims?
While EA held back from confirming any real news for the future of the series, they did state that the developers are “building a family of new Sims experiences across PC, console, and mobile” and that they’re always working on The Sims 4 and “its next evolution”.
This tidbit, alongside promises of more news in the next few months, is promising but fans should be wary of building any hype for The Sims 5. Just as recently as September 2024, Kate Gorman, EA’s vice president, told Variety that there are no plans for The Sims 5. The official reasoning is based on fans being too invested in The Sims 4 after all these years, with its countless user created mods and seemingly endless list of expansion packs.
