The Sims 4 launched 10 years ago and while back then we would have expected to be at The Sims 6, we’re still at the 4th game. And that is not changing…
No Sims 5
Earlier this week EA said that there will be no Sims 5 anytime soon and maybe there never will be. Instead they want to keep their focus on The Sims 4. Their argument for this is that they do not want to force people to leave everything behind and start over again.
This is fair in a sense, while not many people play the same world for 10 years, people did spend a lot of money on DLC’s over the years. A new Sims game would mean you have to buy those expansions again at some point since a lot of expansions like Pets and University have been released for Sims 2 , Sims 3 and Sims 4.
On the other hand, Sims 4 has some problems like having no open world and much loading screens. And the game is getting quite large and how much does EA want to add to it? Too many items can ruin the game over time.
Another reason why EA could have made this decision is money. Since Sims 4 is Free it is likely the 5th game would be too. What would mean that they make no money on the base game and only start making money with expansions. This is not a healthy way to make money so i understand EA wants to avoid this. They could also ask money for the new base game but that might result in a slow migration from Sims 4 to Sims 5.
Another rebrand?
Back in 2019 we got an update from EA a bit like the one this week. Back then we also expected The Sims 5 to be released within a year or two. Instead they rebranded The Sims 4 with a new logo and design. While nothing is said about another rebrand, it is not unlikely since the game is getting older and might need a facelift at some point. The question is if they do that again, will we be getting more like last time like updated graphics or maybe an open world inside The Sims 4?
