Electronic Arts today announced new updates for the future of the Sims franchise. In addition to updates about the games, it also teased a transmedia project: The Sims is getting a film adaptation.
LuckyChap and Vertigo Entertainment are producing the project, and at present we only know a few details about what it’s going to look like. EA also revealed several details about upcoming additions to the games (though The Sims 5 was not among them).
Kate Herron is directing the film and co-writing with Briony Redman. At present, none of the companies involved have revealed any details about the film’s characters or story, but Katy Gorman, EA’s GM of The Sims franchise, told Variety, “You will see a lot of ‘The Sims’ universe come to life and you will see a lot of the classic experiences that our players have in the games come to life in the movie… I’m sure a pool without a ladder is somewhere in there, but we haven’t finalized any of those details. But that’s the idea, is to say that it lives within this space. It’s a nod to all of the amazing play and creation and fun that people have had over the last 25 years within The Sims.”
EA also revealed other details about where it’s taking its life sim franchise, including future ways for players to socialize and enjoy the game. It revealed that Project Rene, its mysterious next-generation project, will have an invite-only playtest in fall, where players can try out a multiplayer component and experience playing together at a shared location.
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The Sims 4 and other near-future projects
Laura Miele, president of EA Entertainment, said in the company’s Investor Day presentation that they’re disrupting its traditional sequel model by creating a massive Sims platform, rather than restarting with a new game. In addition to Project Rene, an “entirely new Sims experience,” it plans to modernize and update The Sim 4 as the foundation of its new model. It’s also reinvigorating the cozy spinoff MySims with a bundled Switch launch called My Sims: Cozy Bundle.
The Sims 4’s big new feature revealed today is Creator Kits, collections of content created by members of the community. This is a first for the series, despite its large and engaged creator community. Miele also revealed the company is working on a mobile title called The Sims: Project Stories, a platform for creating and sharing stories created in The Sims universe. EA plans to connect all of these experiences with a shared social network.
Miele said that the franchise has longstanding emotional connections with its audience, and it has invested in its community. “We know the potential of The Sims is uncapped, because it sits at the intersection of gaming, creation, the human experience and social engagement. And our ambition it to build the world’s largest online gaming community for creators at the speed of pop culture.”
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