We're hoping that The Sims 5 will be officially revealed next month during EA's Play Live event that will take place in July.
One interesting thing to note is the game will feature a multiplayer aspect.
While nothing more has been said, here is how multiplayer could work in The Sims 5.
The Sims 5 Will Feature Multiplayer
In a recent interview with VentureBeat, EA’s Chief Studio Officer Laura Miele revealed that the next instalment in The Sims franchise will feature a multiplayer aspect saying,
"We had The Sims Online that came out in 2002 which was around 20 years ago. We certainly were ahead of our time.
I think 20 years later we learned a lot about how players interact, what motivates players, how players can come together co-operatively and so as you imagine as we think about the next generation of The Sims it’s SUPER important for us to have the best tools, the most flexibility and for players to really expand on their creativity, remix items and objects in the world. And then to do that together – I think that’s one of our biggest opportunities with The Sims is the social connection component that we need to bring to this brand and this franchise. The team is hard at work on the next generation of that experience."
Multiplayer has become a key aspect of many games, with genres such as survival and battle royale genres being dependent on it.
The Sims fits the mould as being a perfect game to include multiplayer, and EA must have thought so too with the release of The Sims Online in 2002.
Multiplayer wasn't as big back in 2002, largely due to internet connections still being slow. The internet was still yet to be a crucial part of any home life, so many potential players wouldn't have had access to the game.
Now, multiplayer gaming is one of the biggest aspects of entertainment, with most genres adopting it in some capacity.
Over 47 million players pay for Sony's PS Plus subscription service which grants users access to online multiplayer, while Xbox Live sees over 18 million gamers paying for the service.
PC gaming doesn't require an online membership, unless it is for a game like World Of Warcraft which requires a monthly subscription, but for the most part, any PC gamer can play online free of charge.
This opens up the potential for EA to take The Sims back online with The Sims 5.
How Multiplayer Could Work
When it comes to implementing multiplayer into The Sims, there are many ways that it could be done.
MMO Style Gameplay
Being a game about building your dream home and family, it would make sense to add some MMO elements and have players join a specific server that acts as a city, with hundreds, or even thousands, of homes and families living and interacting together in the same space.
Players could visit each other's homes, visit locations such as the mall, a restaurant etc, even merge families and start relationships with each other.
The possibilities are endless with what they could do in that aspect.
Interacting With Friends
Rather than featuring MMO style gameplay where thousands of Sims all live in one city, the likely way it will be implemented is that players will be able to visit their friend's house and interact with the families.
In previous offline Sims games, players can get visits from AI characters, so this is likely how it will be done, except those players could be your friends instead.
A Creator Marketplace
A creator marketplace also seems like something that will come to the game, creating an Etsy style platform for digital designers to create their own items while being able to earn some of the revenue from the sale.
This could open the door for endless creative options for players' Sim characters, allowing them to follow real-world trends and styles, as well as being able to create a more unique looking character as opposed to being limited by the few options in the game by default.
Hopefully we'll hear more about The Sims 5 and any potential multiplayer features soon.
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The Sims 5