Key Takeaways
- The Sims franchise has been a leader in social simulation games for 26 years.
- The Sims 5 is still uncertain, with fans eager for updates after 12 years since the last installment.
- EA’s recent layoffs have affected many divisions, but some games, including a new Sims experience, are still in development.
- Project Evergreen is the next project for The Sims franchise, promising a revamp of the series.
It has been 26 years since the social simulation franchise, The Sims, burst onto the scene and, since then, it has managed to reign supreme when it comes to the highly contested genre. Now consisting of four mainline entries and hundreds of DLC packs, the games, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, boast a dedicated fanbase who have been there every step of the way.
However, with it now having been 12 years since the last entry, The Sims 4, was released, fans have been wondering whether The Sims 5 will ever come to fruition.
Unfortunately, it seems as though there are bigger fish to fry in the meantime as, overnight, it was revealed that EA, which has now been made private by an investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), had initiated mass layoffs across many of its gaming divisions. As such, it has led to BioWare shutting down and titles such as Mass Effect 5 having their development canceled. That being said, it seems as though The Sims 5 may actually be safe.
With multiple cancellations and 400 layoffs, EA claims that it is still “the number one publisher in western HD gaming,” and there are some games that are still being developed as we speak.
In an email shared to Kotaku by chief studio officer Cam Weber and chief operating officer David Tinson at EA, the company specified which games it would still be working on from this point on.
“Today, we’re the number one publisher in Western HD gaming,” the email read. “That’s an extraordinary position to lead from and one we should be proud of. Yet our industry is changing quickly. Players have more choices than ever for their time and attention; competition is intensifying; and some of our biggest opportunities for growth are beyond the markets, platforms, and business models where EA has traditionally been the strongest.”
After taking a “hard look” at business strategies since the buyout took place earlier this year, EA has confirmed that the following games will be safe from the chop. At least for now:
- More Battlefield
- Investing “heavily” in Apex Legends
- New shooter from DICE and Respawn (reportedly a new Star Wars Battlefront 3)
- Star Wars Jedi 3
- Marvel’s Iron Man
- EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) and the rest of the annual sports franchises
- New open-world football experience called “Project Gridiron“
- Return of Fight Night
- A new Sims experience called “Project Evergreen“
- More Skate
Although not titled The Sims 5, it seems as though the franchise as a whole is set to receive a revamp. Despite previous reports suggesting that Project Lotus would be the next The Sims project, it is now Project Evergreen, which is currently in development. Not much is known about what this project may entail, but according to the email, it will “give the team more time to reach the full potential and vision for the game.”
“Our responsibility is to make the choices, provide the clarity, and create the conditions for our teams to do their best work. We also want to give every game we choose to build its best chance to succeed for our players and fans around the world.”
Although the email did not share any information about when we could expect to see the launch of this mysterious Project Evergreen, it is at least reassuring to see that The Sims franchise is still alive and well following the devastating news of mass layoffs and cancellations.
- Released
- September 2, 2014
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Maxis
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Cross-Platform Play
- Xbox, PlayStation, and computer versions of Sims 4 are all separate games incompatible with each other.
- Cross Save
- No
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Yes
