The Sims: 'Project Rene' set to include multiplayer feature

16 November 2023, 10:25 | Updated: 4 October 2024, 15:32

The Sims 4 allows players to add custom pronouns to their Sims

By Katie Louise Smith

Project Rene teases collaborative play, and a huge advanced customising menu that allows users to create like never before.

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It's official: The next generation of The Sims, called 'Project Rene', is officially in the works and it boasts several incredible new features – including a long-awaited multiplayer feature!

A very early sneak peek at the new game, with the working title 'Project Rene', was unveiled at the Behind The Sims Summit on October 18th 2022.

"We are building the next generation Sims game and creative platform. Reimagining the Sims you know and love, with new ways to play," Lyndsay Pearson (VP of Franchise Creative for The Sims) revealed.

She continued: "This future requires us to stay true to what The Sims has always been while pushing to evolve how those Sims think and behave, to push tools even further when creating and customising, and to explore innovative ways to not only tell stories but to collaborate on those stories or creations with your closest friends across your favourite devices."

Read more: How to download The Sims 4 for free
Read more: The Sims 5 Cancelled: Here's Why The Sims 4 Sequel Is Likely Never Happening

Here's everything we know about Project Rene so far...

The Sims 5 is in the works under the title Project Rene. Picture: EA

Project Rene will be free to download when it's released.

In the latest Behind The Sims update, Lyndsay Pearson confirmed that, when it's released, Project Rene will available for everyone to download completely free of charge.

"We intend for Project Rene to be free-to-download, and that means, that when it's ready and fully open to our players, you'll be able to join, and play, and explore Project Rene without a subscription, without core game purchase or energy mechanics," she said.

Project Rene's core game "definitely won't start with everything you have in The Sims 4", but will "add new experiences and content over time." The core game will also receive regular free updates, much like The Sims 4, but packs will eventually cost money to add to the game.

Unlike The Sims 4 though, basic game play features like weather will be included in the free core game. Those features will then be built upon in more detail in the paid-for content packs.

"It's a little early to know exactly where we'll draw the lines," she continued. "But it's important for us to lower those barriers to play and give everyone the broadest shared systems because that feels like the best foundation to grow from."

The Sims: Project Rene will include ability to customise furniture. Picture: EA/Maxis

Project Rene will be multiplayer, and will allow you to play with other Simmers.

At long last, Project Rene will be a collaborative game, allowing Simmers to play and share their builds and creations with others – and not just through the gallery. You can play with friends on various stories and build worlds together, or you can continue to play solo.

Project Rene game director Grant Rodiek teased the multiplayer feature in January 2023: "You can 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."

In a new interview with Radio Times, Lyndsay Pearson discussed the plans further, saying: "We definitely want to introduce multiplayer. And not multiplayer in the big, scary 'jump in a world full of strangers' kind of way. But literally, how do you and your friends want to do some play together?"

"Because playing together can look like so many different things, right?," she continued. "Even our chat now, we've talked about, like, trivia games to fighting games to racing games, playing together and social can mean so many things."

She also revealed that Animal Crossing's collaborative features are also inspiring Project Rene's new multiplayer options. She said developers "talk about Animal Crossing all the time, because it is such a good example of my little space, my little island, but I can invite you over".

"And we've seen throughout the last few years of Animal Crossing, people inventing ways to play together that the game doesn't specifically support, but they've made up scavenger hunts or whatever, which is amazing."

Project Rene will include a lot more advanced creative options for furniture and layouts.

Based on the very brief first look that we've seen of Project Rene, it seems like the next generation of The Sims will contain a lot more advanced creative options to customise individual items of furniture and interior layouts for your builds.

Project Rene showed a player customising the patterns and colours of a sofa from a huge menu of options (including a colour wheel!), as well as placing and layering separate cushions on top.

Project Rene will include a multiplayer feature. Picture: EA/Maxis

Is Project Rene actually The Sims 5?

No. Project Rene is not The Sims 5, and is not intended to act as a replacement for The Sims 4. However, it will include several new features that The Sims 4 does not currently have.

Explaining what the 'next generation of The Sims' means in terms of Project Rene, EA’s vice president and general manager of “The Sims” franchise Kate Gorman told Variety: "We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe. With that, you’ll see there are more ways to experience ‘The Sims’ on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, and lots of great offerings within this universe."

“What this means is that we will continue to bring HD simulation experience and what people would want from a ‘5’ — but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to start you over, reset all your progress, and really feel like you’re going to lose all of that amazing play you put into ‘4,’” she added.

“I think as we think about the future of it, we want you to continue all of those families and generations. Those creations are your progress, your attachment. We don’t want to reset your progress. And so it’s not about as much of what the numbers are in the games, but know that the future of the franchise looks more like keeping your progress, keeping things across titles, and really having an ongoing experience, and not a start-and-stop experience between products.”

When does Project Rene come out?

Well, as explained in the live-stream, Project Rene is the working title, and the new generation is still several years off being released to the general public.

In the teaser, Pearson said: "Over the next couple of years, we will continue sharing updates with all of you on Project Rene. We'll share in-progress work, explorations, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes content as well as start to open up early access Project Rene software to small groups over time."

It's likely that people who are Playtesters for The Sims will be able to trial the updates first.

So, if you've only just invested in the The Sims 4, or you're still not done playing with that one just yet, there's no need to worry. Project Rene will not replace The Sims 4. It's been confirmed by EA that the two games will exists side-by-side and will both be supported at the same time.