The Sims 5, a new installment in the series of life simulation video games from Maxis and EA that many players had speculated would be in deep development by now, with the latest in the series, The Sims 4, having been released in 2014, isn’t actually being planned at all right now, according to the latest statements from Kate Gorman, EA’s vice president and general manager of The Sims franchise. Gorman, whose comments come on the heels of several new announcements today for The Sims, including a new Creator Program and film adaptation from Amazon MGM Studios, explained that The Sims 5 isn’t happening because EA doesn’t think players would want to start all over again after a decade’s worth of gameplay in the current installment of the franchise.
Gorman told an outlet:
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “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.”
- “So absolutely, we’re still continuing to support ‘TS4’ more than ever. Still continue to deliver expansion packs and updates and fixes. But what this is to say is, the way we’re going to do things going forward is a little different. And it’s really exciting and it’s really the most expansive iteration of ‘The Sims’ yet.”
Some promos for The Sims 4’s latest expansion pack:
EA on the franchise’s upcoming film adaptation:
We’re VERY excited to share that in partnership with Amazon MGM Studios, our team is working on a film based on The Sims. Kate Herron will direct, as well as co-write with Briony Redman. LuckyChap and Vertigo Entertainment will produce alongside The Sims team, with Herron and Redman executive producing. It’s still too early to share more about the movie but stay tuned for updates as we mark our 25th birthday next year!