Was The Sims 5 just announced? Maxis reveals next gen of The Sims, codenamed Project Rene

The Sims developer Maxis has shared the first details on what the next main-series entry in the franchise will be like.

As reported by Polygon, the revelations came during today’s Behind The Sims Summit livestream event. Vice president of franchise creative for The Sims at Maxis, Lyndsay Pearson, introduced the new game and discussed some of its core features and functionality. Codenamed Project Rene, the upcoming game will be the next iteration of the series, building on everything The Sims 4 put into place.

Project Rene is very early in development, with Pearson explaining this is the first time the developer has shown such early footage of a The Sims title and that the game is still years away from release. Even so, she was able to expand on some of the most exciting aspects of the project. In Project Rene, players can collaborate and play cooperatively. Players can also decorate rooms and houses together in real time; the game will support crossplay, enabling players to start decorating on one device and pick up where they left off on another.

The Sims has always been about customization, but Project Rene is taking it to new heights. Players can customize adjust individual parts of furniture, including headboards and comforters on beds and couch pillows on sofas. The interface is completely different from that of The Sims 4, making this a true upgrade for players.

Despite this focus on the next generation, The Sims 4 isn’t being abandoned any time soon. Two expansions are planned for 2023, as well as official mod support through CurseForge, which will add even more ways for players to customize their world. As of today, the base version of The Sims 4 is free to play, which will likely expand its audience dramatically. There is no release date or even release window for Project Rene as of writing, but Pearson said Maxis will continue to share updates over the coming years.