The Sims 5 preview shows a whole new world of customisation

Hard as it is to believe, it’s been a whole decade since The Sims 4 came out, and EA is already dreaming up another insanely popular life simulator.

As a final part of EA’s Behind The Sims Summit live stream, we were introduced to Project Rene — the codename for “the next-generation The Sims game and creative platform”. You don’t have to read too far between the lines to figure out that’s The Sims 5, somewhat negating the purpose of a codename.

Don’t get too excited, though, as what was shown was a “very early behind-the-scenes look” at ideas being tested. But already you can see that EA wants The Sims 5 to be more customisable than ever.

The short clips shown (28:35 in the video above) don’t show off a bold new look — indeed, it looks like a modified version of the familiar Sims 4 engine — but everything is far more editable. This is demonstrated with a bed that changes its footer on the fly, and a sofa where the shape, colour, pattern, and even the placement of cushions is edited in real-time from a user-friendly set of menus.

How people play is just as important a factor for the developers as the game itself. First, it sounds like The Sims 5 will be a far more social experience — if you want it to be.

“You can choose to play or create by yourself, or with your close friends - it’s entirely your choice,” explained Lyndsay Pearson, VP of franchise creative for The Sims.

More importantly, it appears that being able to play wherever you want will be a huge factor, too: think phone, console, or PC in the same saved world.

To demonstrate this, changes made to a Sim’s house were shown on a PC and phone next to each other. Both changed in real-time, no matter which device the edits were being made on.

In other words, it doesn’t sound like you’re going to avoid your Sims addiction, whether you’re at home or on the commute to work.

To be clear, all of this is a long way off. We were told that Project Rene’s debut “marks the start of our journey over the next few years”, so you would imagine 2025 at the absolute earliest.

If you’re yet to enjoy the delights of The Sims, then it’s a good time to join the fun. Yesterday, The Sims 4 went free to play, meaning you can download and play the base game free of charge on PC or console.

Just be aware that it’s addictive, and collecting the various add-ons — that bring in everything from pets to vampires — can get expensive fast.