Over the last couple of years, Project Rene has been an ongoing project for Electronic Arts. Through playtest leaks and rumors, players assumed the game had eventually canned for good. Or so we thought. Speaking on the future of The Sims series, EA confirms the game is alive and kicking, but you'll be playing it purely on iOS and Android.
With so much versatility in how you can play The Sims, it's always struck me as odd that multiplayer features aren't a huge part of the series. Aside from some local split-screen on Bustin' Out back in the day, playing with friends is left to savvy modders on PC. Now that Project Rene is still going, it marks a huge moment for The Sims, as this looks to be a fully-fledged multiplayer effort.
EA acknowledges concerns around the upcoming free mobile game in a new blog post, expressing that "Project Rene has evolved to focus on social multiplayer play, offering a more direct way for friends to share creativity together. It is not the successor to The Sims 4 and is a separate experience from any future deep, single-player life simulation experience." While there's no concrete release date yet, a separate social media update on X confirms that the game will conduct playtests throughout the year.
This post also confirms that Project Rene is planning to skip over Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, at least for now. EA describes the game as a "mobile-first life-sim", so you can rest assured it'll be on the Play Store and App Store in the future. On the direction of Project Rene, EA adds that "it introduces a new way to explore and play together within the growing Sims family of games, welcoming Simmers who want to connect directly with other players."
Regarding a successor to The Sims 4, EA confirms that the future of the series remains committed to single-player experiences. "Single-player PC and console experiences will always be a part of our future, with more than half of our global development team dedicated to The Sims 4 and the next evolution," the developer comments.
Following The Sims Mobile shut down just two months ago, Project Rene is ready to take up the spotlight. With the advent of rivals like InZOI and the recent cozy game champ Heartopia, can Project Rene offer something fresh? Or is it already too late? Let us know what you think over in the Pocket Tactics Discord server.