// GAMESPOT — GAMING
EA Just Shelved A Mysterious Sims Project—That Could Be Good News For Players
It's been another rough year for video games, with countless studio closures, staff layoffs, and projects that barely managed to even get off the ground before they were unceremoniously cut short. But things are feeling especially grim after EA trotted out two beloved franchises--Mass Effect and Dragon Age--for what amounted to a public execution via the announcement that BioWare has been shuttered.
This was especially painful for Mass Effect players, who were looking forward to the upcoming Mass Effect 5, which we now know was tentatively titled Mass Effect: Universe. But it's not just BioWare fans who are upset at the moment. Fans of EA's other properties are growing increasingly concerned about the future of those franchises, if any future is planned for them at all. My colleague Levi Winslow recently wrote about their concerns for the Skate franchise in the wake of layoffs at its development studio. Meanwhile, I'm quite worried about the fate of The Sims.
In the same breath it announced the end of BioWare, EA also reaffirmed its commitment to Apex Legends, Skate, and The Sims franchises. But everyone knows that when it comes to profits, EA's sports titles outrun its other IPs by a country mile. If EA is willing to pull the plug on legacy franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, where does that leave its other franchises, like The Sims 4?
According to EA, Sims fans need not worry, as the company is committed to "focusing on the long-term potential of The Sims." Apparently, focusing on that long-term potential involves shelving a project The Sims team has been working on for years: Project Rene, AKA Project Lotus, AKA the nebulous next entry in The Sims franchise, which appears to be some kind of weird Sims MMO mobile game thing. Instead, EA will be focusing on Project Evergreen, which is rumored to be a sort of remaster of The Sims 4, with all (or most) DLC packs included, and recurring bugs squashed.
"We're supporting this franchise by pausing work on one of the next titles in this franchise" doesn't exactly inspire confidence, especially after the nonchalance with which EA just killed two other beloved game franchises. But I think this actually might be the right move.
It's been a bumpy couple of years for The Sims, and many players aren't particularly enthused about Project Rene/Lotus, as it seems to be once again trying to recreate The Sims Online, something EA has tried to rebuild over and over. In fact, much of the reason The Sims 4 launched in such awful shape was due to the fact that it was initially meant to be an MMO-style game that could run on mobile devices. Less than a year before launch, EA pivoted to a more traditional Sims game--but by then, so much of the game had been built with online play and mobile devices in mind that it was too late to turn back. Despite releasing over 100 DLC packs and embarking on a concentrated campaign to squash the game's many, many, many bugs, longtime Sims players are still frustrated with the state of The Sims 4, often pointing out the numerous ways it pales in comparison to its predecessor, The Sims 3.
The Sims 4 is officially "done" in that there are no plans to release any more expansion packs for the game. When it comes to the future of the franchise, most players don't want the next Sims title to be yet another attempt at shoehorning online and/or mobile gameplay into a game that is, at its core, all about building and playing with digital dolls in their digital dollhouses. So EA's decision to hit pause on Project Rene/Lotus's development isn't something I find especially heartbreaking. In fact, I think it's the first truly wise decision EA's made regarding the franchise in a long time, provided EA actually plans to support Project Evergreen long-term (which the name Evergreen would suggest).
Sims 4 players don't want Project Rene, but they do want either The Sims 5 or a complete, playable version of The Sims 4--ideally one that doesn't require the purchase of