If recent rumours are to be believed, it would seem as though The Sims 5 has been cancelled with its team returning to work on its predecessor The Sims 4.
First revealed in 2022 during Electronic Art’s “Behind the Sims” summit, The Sims 5, or as its also known Project Rene, was set to be the next instalment in The Sims franchise that has carried the social simulation genre since 2000.
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With recent rumours that The Sims 5 would feature an open-world map much like the one found in The Sims 3, it seemed as though the project was in full swing.
However, according to recent leaks, the end may be nigh after multiple sources hint at the project being cancelled.
Posted to r/GamingLeaksAndRumours, one post read "The Sims 5" CANCELLED (rumour).
“There's a current rumor going around that something labelled as "The Sims 5" was cancelled recently. This is connected to the recent layoffs of employees. I have no idea if this was Project Rene, or a different project called Sims 5 that was cancelled.
Developers from Project Rene are also starting to move to Sims 4”.
The post is accompanied by multiple screenshots courtesy of SimmerBerkay on Twitter. They show The Sims 5 being “cancelled” on a former employee’s timeline, evidence that a lead character artist left and an image revealing that the senior game designer for Project Rene was moving back to The Sims 4.
It is worth noting that these are all unofficial leaks and nothing has yet been confirmed by Electronic Arts at the time of writing this story. However, fans are understandably disheartened to hear the news.
“Oh god I really don’t want another 5-10 more years of The Sims 4 not being overhauled, it NEEDS a successor already,” one comment read.
Another said: “Honestly not surprised. The last year or so Sims 4 has been receiving way more free updates and content (as well as paid obviously) than it used to get.”