Will The Sims 5 be a Mobile Game?

Sims fans received the exciting news that they've been waiting for — The Sims 5 is officially in development. But some information has surfaced that has been causing some concern.

The Sims 5 has been officially announced under the working title Project Rene. According to developer Maxis, The Sims 5 will be the "new future" for the series and will be "reimagining The Sims that players know and love with even more new ways to play."

While this sounds exciting, there were a few details revealed during a Behind the Sims Summit that hinted towards what these "new ways to play" would be. Fans were given a quick glimpse at the game's development where it was revealed that it could be utilizing PC and mobile crossplay. It was this news that led many fans to wonder if mobile compatability would reduce the game's overall performance.

"PC-Mobile crossplay is a HUGE red flag," one user posted to The Sims Reddit forum. "That means the game will be made to be playable in both platforms, and that limits its potential graphic and gameplay-wise."

Not every fan was convinced, however. "I'm not sure it's going to be fully crossplay. My guess is it'll end up being a situation where you can use your phone/tablet to create rooms and Sims to store in the Library, but not actually play," another user replied. "They claim they want Sims to be able to do more, and that'd be too much a drain on phones."

Some users were more damning: "If it’s going to support both pc and mobile you know it’s going to be basically a mobile game." Others expressed worry that, should the game commit to extensive mobile gameplay, we could see microtransactions become an added element.

In a blog post discussing the recent announcements, EA wrote, "With Project Rene, players will have the choice to play solo or collaborate with others, and will have the ability to play their game across supported devices."

The Sims 5 is still a ways off. While neither EA or Maxis has fully confirmed the extent of mobile integration for the upcoming game, it's likely we'll see more information come to light over the next few months.