Highlights
- Project Rene aims to elevate The Sims franchise with Unreal 5 graphics, apartments, multiplayer, and cross-play features.
- Early playtests received positive feedback, with apartment customization and multiplayer capabilities supposedly being key strengths.
- Project Rene can highlight another strength early by allowing players to access its character creation tools before release, just like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Saint's Row.
The Sims franchise has always elevated itself with each sequel and expansion pack, so there are high expectations for Project Rene. The supposed fifth The Sims game is said to be using Unreal 5, which is a huge graphical improvement, and will have apartments and more in-depth furniture customization. It's also said to have multiplayer and cross-play features, which would make it one of the most interactive Sims games so far.
Project Rene is still in active development, so it might take a while before it officially launches. In 2022, developer and publisher EA opened the first Project Rene playtest to let fans experience an early build, which was received positively by the community. But if EA and Maxis want to keep the hype up for Project Rene, it could take a page out of Saints Row and Dragon's Dogma 2's playbooks.
Project Rene Can Make Up for What The Sims 4 Lacks in Occults
Occult life states have always been a part of The Sims series, but The Sims 4 is missing some key occults that Project Rene needs to feature.
Project Rene Must Showcase Its Best Feature Before Launch
The Sims is well-known for its character creation because this is where players can start building their virtual households. The franchise continuously leveled up how players could customize their Sims, from diversifying the character creation tools to adding Aspirations and Traits to give Sims more personality and depth. With The Sims 4 out for almost a decade already, it's shown many innovations in character creation, including creator-made The Sims 4 mods.
All eyes are now on Project Rene to showcase how it plans to one-up previous Sims games. What EA and Maxis have already done right is to let select fans experience Project Rene's apartment customization and multiplayer capabilities during the playtests. But if the devs want the game to stand out from upcoming life sims like Life By You and ParaLives, this is the perfect opportunity to showcase Project Rene's character creation before launching it to the world. Dragon's Dogma 2 and Saints Row are great examples of how this could work in Project Rene's favor.
Game | Project Rene |
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Confirmed Features |
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Last March, Capcom dropped Dragon's Dogma 2's character creator, which gave fans a chance to create their avatar and main Pawn, which could be carried over to the game once it launched. The creator showcased a wide range of tools and presets that players can use for their avatars. Volition also did something similar in 2022 when it released the Saints Row Boss Factory months before the reboot's release to showcase the diverse Bosses that players could create.
This promotional tactic worked not only because it was a great teaser for certain games, but it was also a great way to showcase the graphical capabilities and diversity of the character creation tools. This is more important now more than ever, as many people are putting a lot of importance to character creation, as they're seeking more tools to customize their avatars to look as realistic or as whimsical as possible. Project Rene could capitalize on this, especially if it's introducing a groundbreaking character creator that is deeper than what The Sims fans have seen in previous games. It's also important for Project Rene's character creation to keep up with the innovative tools of newer life simulations, and early access to it could show that Maxis is confident in its creation tools.
The biggest question surrounding Project Rene is when exactly players will get to test out its character creation and other new features. It's still unknown when the game will come out, and it's likely going to take a few years to build a new world, create new Sim families, and ensure that everything's in place. EA did promise in the past that it would continue doing playtests to gather feedback from the community, so that devs could fix any kinks in Project Rene before its full release. However, the developer can't depend on furniture and apartment customization forever, and it should consider exploring ways to let fans experience the new character creator ahead of the game's full launch.
The Sims 4
The Sims 4 is the latest offering from Maxis and The Sims Studio, serving as a sequel to The Sims 3. Although it was released back in 2014, the game is still going strong today thanks to an array of DLC add-on packs that give players access to more unlockable items and events.
