With 20 million players and six years of life under its belt, The Sims 4 has been a long-running powerhouse for the franchise. However, it’s starting to be time for the studio to move on to the inevitable sequel. The twist? The Sims 5 looks like it will offer an online multiplayer experience.
In fielding a question about online play for The Sims 5, EA CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned an MMO that some of you reading this may be a tad familiar with: “As Maxis continues to think about The Sims for a new generation – cross-platforms and a cloud of a neighborhood world, you should imagine while we will always stay true to our inspiration, escape, creation, self-improvement, motivations – that this notion of social interactions and competition like the kind of things that were actually present in The Sims Online many many years ago – that they will start to become a part of The Sims experience in the years to come.”
Wilson also mentioned the social platforms that Sims players use to connect and even “compete” by sharing their creations. His quote confirming the in-development sequel seems to line up with a job posting from last summer in which EA Maxis sought developers for a live service title.
You can read the history of The Sims Online, the doomed social MMO that ran from 2002 to 2008, in our Game Archaeologist column.
