The Sims 5 Allegedly Canceled, According to Developer Resume
New information spotted online suggests that The Sims 5, also known as Project Rene, has been allegedly canceled. Instead, the team is shifting their focus to working on The Sims 4, where content is consistently produced for the game. Lovestruck is the latest upcoming expansion for The Sims 4 and is due to be released on July 25.
Project Rene was first shown off in a “Behind the Sims” summit in 2022. Audiences were told that this would be the next installment in the franchise. Since The Sims 4 was released, audiences have been very vocal about features they’d like to see re-added to the popular simulation game.
Maxis had plans to include the open-world feature in the next game and snippets of gameplay from the project were also shown at the summit. However, multiple rumors are beginning to emerge that The Sims 5 has been canceled.
The rumor first appeared on r/GamingLeaksandRumors, suggesting that developers who were working on The Sims 5 have returned to focus on The Sims 4 instead. Multiple screenshots have since emerged, suggesting that key members of the team for The Sims 5 have since left.
The Senior Game Designer for Project Rene has shifted their efforts to The Sims 4, with the Lead Character Artist leaving their EA job entirely. In what seems to be a screenshot of their LinkedIn page, it shows that The Sims 5 is marked as canceled.
For the time being, these comments and screenshots are all speculation, as Electronic Arts hasn’t officially made a statement claiming that Project Rene is canceled. However, those dedicated fans of the franchise are not happy to hear the news.
Compared to the other iterations of the franchise and even the spin-offs, The Sims 4 is not quite a fan favorite. It is disappointing that they may be working on it for another 5-10 years, adding more DLC.
For example, there is the upcoming expansion pack Lovestruck, and plenty of free updates have been added to the game. These updates add sprinkles of new content and some new traits and furniture that can be unlocked by logging into The Sims 4 daily. This was another feature created that didn’t go down well with the audience, as not everyone has the time to log in to The Sims 4 daily, meaning they will miss out on the exclusive items and traits added to the game.
Until Electronic Arts releases an official statement on The Sims 5, we can only hope and pray that it’s actually still in development. We’ll update this story when and if the publisher provides a comment.
