Looks like yet another maybe-mobile-only game is coming to The Sims franchise, this time titled 'City Life Game with Friends'. It's likely that this isn't the final title - at least, I hope not. As though it may not have The Sims branding just yet, it's more than likely that this is part of an upcoming project EA has for the franchise.
There appears to be a small, closed-access playtest on now until April 4, at 7 pm UTC. You can't find the game's listing organically in mobile app stores, but you can see a listing on the German Google Play, as discovered by SimTimes.
According to the description on the Google Play listing, you can create your character with a unique appearance and story, then join other players to explore 'a vibrant neighbourhood'. You can shop, work at a café, learn skills, and complete quests. People with access to the playtest are "helping to test small parts of a larger game concept", and "the features in this app don't necessarily reflect the direction or content of an upcoming game". This could be a test for Project Rene, whatever it materializes as.
There's a Discord server linked on the Google Play page as well, which has an FAQ section and feedback channels to report any issues. However, there's no free discussion section. The server itself is run by admin Mindy (The Sims), though again, this doesn't quite confirm if the game is related to The Sims itself.
It appears that this "City Life Game with Friends" playtest could be for the upcoming The Sims: Town Stories - a Sims-flavored mobile game EA announced - or the aforementioned Project Rene, which is due to land on mobile and PC. They do appear to share the same sort of art style.
It really seems like this is the path EA is heading down with the Sims franchise now that Sims 5 is no more. When we asked for Sims spin-offs to come back, we didn't really want run-of-the-mill looking mobile simulation games.
We're keeping our eyes fixed on this to see what happens, and whether any reviews or opinions come out based on what's in the playtest. In the meantime, see how The Sims runs on Steam Deck, and whether there is, in fact, a Sims Switch version on the cards.