Ahh, Project Rene. What a beautiful name for a game and/or experience that we know so little about. Over the last year, EA and Maxis have been teasing the future of The Sims, with a handful of updates revealing the existence of the game known as Project Rene.
Initially, reports around this title indicated it would be a successor to The Sims 4, potentially titled The Sims 5, and it would expand the franchise’s gameplay in mind-blowing new fashion. But as we now know, this isn’t the case at all. While EA and Maxis have remained fairly vague on what exactly Project Rene is, there are at least some tidbits we know for sure.
Here’s everything confirmed about the game so far.
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Is Project Rene secretly The Sims 5?
Let’s start with an obvious one. No, Project Rene is not The Sims 5.
This has been definitively answered by EA and Maxis in a recent interview with Polygon. The team has stated Rene will be a “complementary experience to all things” in The Sims, and it will exist alongside current and upcoming projects, including The Sims 4.
“It’s a complementary experience to all the things – it’s not a linear experience,” Kate Gorman Revelli, franchise vice president and general manager said. “There’s a lot we’ll be seeing in the playtest, but the core piece to know what Rene is – we’re really looking at a way to make The Sims playable together.”
Based on Gorman Revelli’s interview, there is really only one thing we know for sure about Project Rene, which is…
Project Rene will be a multiplayer Sims experience
Per Gorman Revelli’s comments, Project Rene actually has a focus on allowing players of The Sims to connect in an online space.
“If you want to play that kind of multiplayer experience, that’ll be what you look for in the things we’ve talked about Project Rene,” Gorman Reveli said.
It sounds mightily like this game will be a sort of reimagining of The Sims Online for the modern era, complete with refreshed gameplay and customisation. Already, EA and Maxis have revealed an array of features for the game, including new furniture customisation and placement, and new, more obvious emotions for individual Sims.
Given recent trends, Project Rene might actually turn out to be EA and Maxis’ attempt at refreshing the metaverse, but hopefully it will be a purer version than other recent NFT and Web3-focussed attempts.
Why is there no The Sims 5?
EA and Maxis have seemingly moved away from plans to create The Sims 5, with a new franchise roadmap revealing The Sims 4 will remain the “foundational Sims experience” in the years ahead. While there are a number of major Sims game projects in the work, they won’t be numbered entries in the series – rather, they will allow for new gameplay experiences.
Per Gorman Revelli, plans for The Sims 5 have been put on hold indefinitely, as EA wants players to be able to maintain their gameplay and progress from The Sims 4.
Read: The Sims 4 will be “modernised” as EA moves away from sequel plans
“The way to think about it is, historically, The Sims franchise started with Sims 1 and then Sims 2, 3 and 4. And they were seen as replacements for the previous products,” Gorman Revelli told Variety. “What we’re really working with our community on is this a new era of The Sims. We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe.”
What are the main features of Project Rene?
So far, EA and Maxis have publicly announced a few major features for Project Rene: the ability to connect with other players in an online world, customise furniture, and have Sims show off fiery emotions.
As detailed by developers in July 2023, Project Rene will reimagine emotions as visual tools for players, with individual Sims able to share fiery and expressive feelings. These will inform their body posture, facial expressions, and overall temperament. It appears there will be some emotional over-exaggeration in this game, to ensure players understand what’s going on with their Sims, and how conversations are going.
This will be important as Sims travel around and meet new people, in what appears to be more open neighbourhoods. A brief prototype clip of a city locale implied Project Rene will feature more lively worlds, with neighbour Sims seemingly following their own work schedules and routines.
In February 2023, EA and Maxis also confirmed the game will allow players to build apartments and spaces together.
“Players can design an apartment together, opening up new ways to play, tell stories, and build dream creations,’ EA and Maxis said in a blog post. ‘Project Rene is a place for you to explore life with The Sims and also share a wide variety of experiences with trusted friends, if you want, when you want.”
So far, these have been the only features discussed by EA and Maxis.
A playtest for Project Rene will take place in Spring 2024 [SH]
As announced during a recent media blitz, Project Rene will be tested in a small, invite-only session in Spring 2024 [Southern Hemisphere]. This will give “an early look at a multiplayer experience that explores joining friends and other players at a shared location.”
Players keen to jump in can sign up to be selected for playtesting, via the newly-established Sims Labs. We expect many of the features previously announced will be accessible in this playtest, although it’s unclear whether gameplay and/or impressions will be shared with the public following these tests.
Will Project Rene be free to play?
Yes, Project Rene will be free to play. This was confirmed by EA in September 2023.
“You will be able to join, play, and explore it without a subscription, core game purchase or energy mechanics,” the company said. “We want playing to be super easy for you to invite or join friends and experience new features, stories and challenges.”
How will Project Rene be monetised?
EA and Maxis have announced the game will grow and change over time, and its monetisation will be in the form of content packs, as with other Sims games.
“We want Project Rene to be strong and cohesive from the start. While it won’t begin with everything you have in The Sims 4, we plan to add new experiences and content to Project Rene over time,” EA and Maxis said.
“Beyond regular updates to the core game, we will sell content and packs, but we plan to change this up a bit. For example, basic weather may be added to the core game for free, for everybody. And in the future, a pack for purchase may be focused on winter sports with activities like ice dancing or a snowman building competition.”
“It’s important that with Project Rene we lower barriers to play and give all players the broadest shared systems because that feels like the strongest foundation for us to grow from.”
When does Project Rene launch?
At this stage, EA and Maxis have not announced anything firm about the release date for Project Rene. It’s been in development since at least 2022, and much of this development has been secretive. It’s unclear how far along the game is, and when we can expect firmer details.
With a playtest happening in Spring 2024 [Southern Hemisphere], we can assume features are shaping up enough to be accessed by the public, but that doesn’t tell us much about what’s to come – and we shouldn’t speculate so early in the process.
We’ll likely learn much more about Project Rene in future, so it’s best to keep an eye on the EA and Maxis social channels (and the Sims blog) for more news.
