Hannan Mundia 
New information has come to light that suggests The Sims 5 might have secretly been canceled, or that it might not ever have a console release.
The Sims has one of the most dedicated fanbases in any gaming franchise. Launching in 2000 with the first game in the series, developer Maxis has kept things fresh with frequent DLCs for The Sims 4. The Sims 4 came out in 2014, and after a decade of fan-infuriating DLCs, Project Rene was announced as the next generation of The Sims.
Many fans assumed Project Rene was the development phase name for The Sims 5. However, a project called The Sims 5 for the PS5 was secretly canceled according to a creator in the Sims space. This suggests that the entire game may have been scrapped, sparking fear among the fandom.
Was The Sims 5 canceled?
Job listings from former Maxis employees suggest that The Sims 5 will not have a console release, or could be canceled entirely. This was shown in screenshots that appeared on a Twitter community page.
Maxis has seemingly been juggling multiple projects related to The Sims and it’s not entirely clear how these fit together. Foremost among them is Project Rene, a free-to-play game labeled by EA Games as “the next generation of The Sims.” However, it’s unclear whether Project Rene is a codename for The Sims 5, or a new game. Features like Project Rene being multi-platform with crossplay suggest it might be akin to a live service game, and users involved in playtesting this game generally agreed with this notion.
During Project Rene’s testing, users were reportedly asked whether they would grind a battle pass for the game, suggesting the next game in The Sims franchise might have one. It was already confirmed that Project Rene would lean heavily on multiplayer, so it makes sense to keep it different from the mainline single-player games. However, this would mean Project Rene would likely not be a numbered entry.
The limited information and apparent reveal of Maxis‘ cancellation of a PS5 version of The Sims 5 has led to broad speculation regarding its fate. The cancelation of a PS5 version would be surprising, as it’s the console EA would be most likely to release the game on.
It’s possible that all console versions of The Sims 5 have been canceled but a PC version is still coming. The fear among players is that the entire game has been scrapped entirely, and the plan now is to focus entirely on The Sims 4 expansions and heavily monetized spin-offs.
The Sims 5 release date
It’s unknown when Maxis will release The Sims 5, or if the game has been canceled and repurposed into other projects.
The 2022 “The Sims Summit Stream Event” revealed Project Rene had reportedly been in development since 2018. Additionally, the game’s reveal was apparently made in early access, as suggested by how the official name hadn’t been decided.
This isn’t to say The Sims 4 isn’t still getting content. With new features like the daily log-in rewards and multiple new DLCs, developers working on Project Rene have moved to The Sims 4. This suggests there’s some time before support for The Sims 4 ceases.
