EA may still be releasing new Expansion Packs for The Sims 4, but fans are eager to hear what’s in store for the next instalment in the franchise!
Keep reading as we cover everything we know about The Sims 5.
Release Date
Unfortunately, there is no talk of a release date any time soon, so it’s very unlikely we will be seeing The Sims 5 released this year.
The most likely course of action for EA will be to release it early 2021, but there is no fixed release date as of yet.
Development Update
We haven’t heard much about the development progress of The Sims 5, but EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson made some comments back in February 2020.
In CNN’s interview with Wilson, he explained that:
“As Maxis continues to think about The Sims for a new generation across platforms and a cloud-enabled world, you should imagine that while we will always stay true to our inspiration, escape, creation, self-improvement motivation, that this notion of social interaction and competition… will start to become part of the ongoing The Sims experience in the years to come.”
READ MORE: Three features we NEED to see in The Sims 5
What this hard-to-digest quote actually tells us is that The Sims 5 is being developed to facilitate technologies that are sure to have a big place in the future of gaming.
Summer Announcement?
Many Sims fans were left disappointed atfer The Sims official Twitter confirmed that EA Play would not feature any information about ‘any new products’.
However, EA Play may well have hinted at a possible summer announcement for The Sims 5.
As you can see in the video above, The Sims’ Lyndsay Pearson states “I know some of you tuned in hoping for some Sims news and we’ll have plenty to share as the summer goes on”.
READ MORE: The Sims 5 is likely to have online multiplayer!
This statement certainly points towards an unveiling of The Sims 5 at some point this summer!
Sims 5 on Steam?
Many Sims players have complained over the years due to having to use Origin to play the game. In recent news however, The Sims 4 has made its way to Steam, which means The Sims 5 could very well follow suit.
This would be a huge improvement in the view of many players, and will likely continue to be at the least another option for future releases.
Next-Gen
With the PS5 and new Xbox arriving in late 2020, you’d expect EA will be building a game that utilises the enhancements of next-gen.
However, EA has often stuck to the formula of releasing a new Sims game as a PC exclusive for the first few years.
Therefore, if we are to see The Sims 5 arrive to next-gen consoles, it may well be a few years down the line.
READ MORE: The Sims 5 is likely to have online multiplayer!
However, this isn’t definite and with both the PS5 and Xbox 2020 set to break new boundaries in the gaming world, EA may well adopt a different strategy that encompasses the new consoles.
Head here to find out how next-gen consoles might improve The Sims 5.
How much will The Sims 5 cost?
While we are unsure of what the Standard Edition of Sims 5 will cost in comparison to Limited Editions of the game, most blockbuster titles that have released in 2020 are listed somewhere around the £50 mark.
Though it is still unclear what goodies will be provided with limited-edition versions of the game, we will likely get an update soon.
Will it be on the PS4?
The short answer is – perhaps!
With EA displaying a pattern of ‘release on PC first, then consoles’, it’s unclear if the title would grace the PS4 anytime soon.
However the new backwards compatibility of Xbox Series X and PS5 could affect their decision – meaning we could see it released earlier than expected.
Demo?
There has been no news on an official demo just yet.
READ MORE: Will The Sims 5 be available on next-gen?
However, it is likely that PC gamers will be able to play an early version of the game before release, using the Origin’s Beta Programme – you can sign up to the programme here.
With EA’s formula of releasing on PC, then console a few years later – a demo for console is likely quite a long way off.
However, could the arrival of next-gen consoles mean a mix-up for the current Sims formula? Find out more about a next-gen demo here.
Will The Sims 5 be Open-World?
Unfortunately, an open-world feature hasn’t been confirmed, but in short, it really ought to.
One of the best things about life in The Sims 4‘s predecessors is that it felt like your household was part of a much bigger neighbourhood.
You could just nip over to your neighbour’s house without seeing a loading screen, borrow a cup of sugar or just by walking over.
READ MORE: How to Change Appearance in The Sims 4
You could even head to the shops or just go out to discover weird things – the point is, it all flowed together and felt like an interactive environment.
For some reason, The Sims 4 ditched all of that, so this really needs to be addressed for The Sims 5.
If the upcoming project is to exceed expectations, it really needs to blend the open-world elements of The Sims 3 with the variety of landscapes in The Sims 4.
Plot details
As anyone familiar with The Sims franchise already knows, The Sims is at its core a life simulator that allows you to play God and control your characters’ lives, with increasing detail as the franchise has aged.
READ MORE: Sims 4 Reddit Wishlist
EA has hinted that the new instalment is made with a new generation in mind. What this means though, remains mainly a mystery.
Will this mean increased social media integration into The Sims? Vegan diet options perhaps? Only time will tell with this one.
The Sims 5 Trailer
As you’d expect, we’re yet to see a trailer for the new game.
However, YouTuber OriginZ has posted an amazing fanmade trailer for The Sims 5 which gives a taste of what to expect:
Improved Graphics and New Features
One aspect that stands out in the fanmade trailers above is the incredible graphics.
This is accurate as we know that The Sims 5 will be kitted out with better graphics than ever, and with much more customisation options to boot.
READ MORE: The Sims 5 is likely to have online multiplayer!
Alongside this will be a bucket load of new features, which has been rumoured to include better vehicles and full neighbourhood customisation.
What Unreal Engine 5 means for The Sims 5
The Unreal Engine 5, Epic Games’ new game engine, was revealed on a live-stream hosted by Youtube account, thegameawards.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch the truly stunning video below:
This video shows Unreal Engine 5 running on a PS5 dev kit, with the visuals outputted through an HDMI cable, so this a truly accurate depiction of what graphics could look like on the PS5 and therefore The Sims 5!
Head here for a deeper dive into the all-new Unreal Engine 5.
Wishlist
With such a huge fan following, it’s understandable that players will have some notes on what they’d like to see enhanced in the Sims 5.
Fewer expansion packs & DLC
There has been a number of Expansion Pack titles over the years, however, they usually come at a price (literally).
Having features like pets and seasons right from the start could be a welcome change.
Better careers
Some fans claim that they’d like to have a few more business options in the title. The expansion pack ‘The Sims 4: Get to Work’ did provide some, however, having the option to run your own business would be a plus.
READ MORE: The Sims 5 wishlist – Everything we’d like to see
Online multiplayer
That’s right, the feature fans have been waiting for all these years looks like it could finally arrive on The Sims 5.
In an interview with Forbes, EA’s Andrew Wilson revealed that the “notion of social interactions and competition like the kind of things that were actually present in The Sims Online many many years ago […] will start to become a part of The Sims experience in the years to come”.
This means it is looking very likely that online multiplayer will arrive in The Sims 5.
Head here to find out what The Sims online gameplay could be like.
The Sims 5 Cheats
Cheating has become a massive part of The Sims, and we expect this to be no different on The Sims 5.
You can find out more about The Sims 5 cheats here, as we’ve outlined which cheats we’d love to see carried over to the new game!
Remember, rumours suggest that the new Sims 5 will let you integrate your items and characters across from Sims 4, so you could use these cheats to prepare your Sim for life in the next game.
The Sims 5 Download
With The Sims 5 set for an early 2021 release, you can not download the game yet.
However, once the game is released, PC gamers we’ll likely be able to download the full game through their Origin account.
READ MORE: The Sims 5 is likely to have online multiplayer!
If The Sims 5 follows the same formula as previous editions then PS4 and Xbox One owners will have to wait a little longer as a console edition would not arrive for a few years yet.
However, the arrival of next-gen consoles might change things up a bit for The Sims formula.
Find out more about what next-gen could mean for The Sims 5 download here.
The post The Sims 5 – Release Date, Summer Announcement, Development Update, Next-Gen, Steam, Online Multiplayer, news & more appeared first on RealSport.
