Draft:Project Rene

Project Rene is an upcoming social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to The Sims 4 and the fifth main installment in The Sims franchise. Maxis states that the name comes from words like "renaissance" and "rebirth" to signify commitment to the "bright future" of the series. Project Rene was announced during a Behind The Sims livestream on YouTube on October 18th, 2022. It was shown to include mobile phone continuity, enhanced furniture building, and more customization options.

It is the first main installment in the series to include multiplayer and cross-play functionality.

Development and Release
In the summit, it was stated that the project is in early development and will be released in a few years from the initial announcement. Despite this, Maxis has indicated that they are willing to share development progress and work with the community in order to improve the game. As of Januray 2024, Maxis is yet to give any definitive timeframe for when the game will be released or when early access will begin.

In November 2022, an early playtest of the game was released to a small testing group, however, some players outside of the group were able to pirate this playtest to sample gameplay. Gameplay did not involve any playable sims but allowed some limited building and customization. In response, Maxis sent copyright takedown requests to people who screenshotted the playtest and posted it online.

The game will be free to play, however, paid downloadable content will be available to supplement the core game features. Additionally, Maxis states that the game will co-exist with The Sims 4.

Gameplay
Project Rene is intended to feature multiplayer, however, multiplayer will not be mandatory and players would be able to choose to play without the use of online features.

The game is also expected to offer cross-platform functionality, however, play on mobile devices may be limited.

Criticism
Project Rene has been criticized by fans for allegedly copying ideas from another upcoming simulation game called Paralives. Paralives has a strong focus on customizing building mechanics and in the Project Rene teaser, building mechanics was the main highlight. Some people have also highlighted the face that Project Rene may differ from the rest of the franchise due to its multiplayer and cross-play focus.