Gameplay of EA's New The Sims 'Concept' Appears to Leak Online, and It's Not Going Down Well With Fans

A video purportedly taken from the next iteration of The Sims has popped up online, and fans have expressed their concern about what it may mean for the much-loved series.

Project Rene - the codename sometimes used interchangeably with The Sims 5, although EA maintains Project Rene is, in fact, a spin-off project - has been bubbling around for a few years now, but early access footage from a game entitled "City Life Game With Friends" has many players thinking that this could well be the next Sims game.

The video itself is a full 20 minutes long and shows the player clicking through text prompts to select their outfit, hair, watch, activities, and so on. He then spawns into a sunlit Plaza de Poupon where he buys some food and mingles with the locals. He later goes to work in the outdoor café.

Characters are clearly called Sims throughout the playtest, talk in Simlish, and are adorned with The Sims' tell-tale Plumbob.

"I am terribly disappointed with Project Rene. Yes, I know, according to EA, 'this is not the final game.' Is this a joke or what?" said one unhappy player on The Sims' subreddit on a post entitled "I think Project Rene is a redflag (I hope not)" that has been upvoted hundreds of times.

"EA clearly wants to kill off normal Sims games and push people toward the mobile-style experience. So in their mind, a reboot literally means this — at least that’s what I THINK."

"This is not going to be for me, I can tell already," said another. "It just seems so basic and I don't want to play The Sims on my phone."

"The funny thing is, making a PC/mobile cross-compatible Sims game isn't a bad idea," posited a fan. "EA just believes that mobile games HAVE to be ugly for some reason. They're chasing all of the design trends of the past decade, but it means that this thing already looks dated and it's not even out yet."

"The way The Sims was a literally [sic] satire about capitalist suburban consumption-as-happiness.... And this is where the Sims ended up. Endless consumption-as-happiness," suggested another.

Project Rene — the codenamed game initially thought to be The Sims 5 until EA distanced itself from those rumors — was first teased in 2022 during a Behind the Sims Summit. It's a free-to-play Sims game that features multiplayer inspired by Animal Crossing and Among Us. It hasn't yet been formally revealed or received a release date, but EA has been holding small, invite-only playtests for the game since its announcement, with the game's latest playtest presumably spawning these recent leaks.

The name Rene was chosen because it references words like "renewal, renaissance, and rebirth" that "represent the developer's renewed commitment for the Sims' bright future."

Last October, however, images of Project Rene leaked from a closed online test, prompting complaints about the art style, limited features, and the use of microtransactions. It was the addition of a café that drew the most skepticism, primarily due to the smiliaries to 2018's The Sims Mobile. It was then that EA said Project Rene was not The Sims 5 but would, in fact, be a different "cosy, social game" released under The Sims franchise.

Don't forget that The Burglar, a familiar sight for those of us who've spent time with any of the older Sims games snuck back into our lives as part of the latest update for The Sims 4.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.