LogInA LinkedIn page of Maxis' former employee suggests that The Sims 5, or at least its PS5 version, is no more.
UPD: An anonymous source close to Maxis has confirmed to me that the rumor is false: the studio is still developing PC and mobile versions of The Sims 5. What could have been one of the most out-of-the-blue cancellations the game industry has ever seen turned out to be a simple misunderstanding, which, frankly speaking, should come as no surprise, given the lucrative nature of The Sims franchise and the company behind Maxis.
Electronic Arts
Original article: Over the past few hours, a new rumor has spread all over the web like wildfire, suggesting that The Sims 5, codenamed Project Rene, has been canceled by Electronic Arts, while its developers were either fired or moved to work on The Sims 4.
Kicked off by Twitter user @SimmerBerkay, the rumor claims that the next installment in The Sims franchise is no longer in development at Maxis Studios, pointing to the LinkedIn page of Maxis' former employee. According to said employee's About section, The Sims 5, powered by Unreal Engine 5, was canceled at an unspecified date, while their portfolio reveals that they either left or were fired from Maxis in April 2024, a month when the game's development presumably ceased.
The rumor gained further traction when it was discovered this employee was not the only developer to leave Maxis in April. Posts by other former Maxis employees revealed that the team was affected by EA's layoffs, causing The Sims developer to lose "many amazing people":
As a cherry on top, the community pointed out that Grant Rodiek, a Game Director and a key figure in The Sims team, departed Maxis and Electronic Arts back in January, implying that the production process has been in disarray since then, potentially leading to The Sims 5's alleged cancellation:
With all that in mind, it would be easy to assume that Project Rene is no more, with its developers either reassigned to The Sims 4 and other projects or fired. However, there's a catch: the aforementioned ex-developer's LinkedIn page, which sparked the rumor in the first place, states that only The Sims 5 for PlayStation 5 has been canceled, making it entirely possible that PC and mobile versions of the game might still be in development. Currently, it's impossible to say for certain, as both Maxis and EA have yet to address the gossip.
Interestingly, if Project Rene has indeed been discontinued, it wouldn't be the first life-simulator to get axed this Summer. Just a month ago, Paradox Interactive's Life by You, which many viewed as a competitor to The Sims, got canceled after several delays due to the difficulties of the development process.
Paradox Interactive
With one game canceled and another presumed canceled, all eyes are now on inZOI, an upcoming UE5-made life sim from PUBG developer KRAFTON, which seems to be alive and kicking, having announced its participation in gamescom 2024 just a few days ago:
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