There won't be a Sims 5 as EA will 'disrupt' the sequel model by combining The Sims 4, Project Rene and two other Sims games into one massive Sims Platform'

Project Rene - the codename of the next major Sims title - is not cancelled. EA will actually be testing closed multiplayer this fall. It says that the game in development we've sometimes called "The Sims 5" isn't The Sims 5. Project Rene and The Sims 4 will both be part of the "Sims universe" in the near future.

Laura Miele, EA entertainment and technology president, gave a more detailed overview of The Sims' future today than is usually given in investor presentations.

Miele said that The Sims 1-3 would be replaced with a new version, starting over. "Well, we're going to disrupt the model of sequels. We are investing in the massive Sims platform."

There are many buzzwords in this article, which are the types of things that investors like. But the short and sweet of it is that EA plans to have four different Sims games - The Sims 4, Project Rene and My Sims - share creator tools, as well as a single user gallery, marketplace and social network.

Miele says, "We will continue to build on the huge engagement and volume of content... to make Sims 4 a foundation for our future growth strategy." "We will update the core technology for the product, and we will release exciting and fun content for many more years."

It seems a bit strange to talk about a game that is now 10 years old and where each new DLC struggles to coexist with the other DLCs. This may explain why EA recently created a new team dedicated to fixing bugs. The "updating core technology" part of The Sims 4's plan will require a great deal of faith.

The announcement finally answers my question that I've been asking for over a month about how Project Rene is related to The Sims 4 EA had previously made vague statements about "supporting" The Sims 4. I assumed that this was referring to quality-of-life updates and not active continued development.

Maxis has also begun to talk about the 25th Anniversary of The Sims Series that will be in February. It plans to host a Behind The Sims presentation to discuss the series in general, which is likely to include more discussion about Project Rene.