2 days Ago By Leah J. Williams
EA and Maxis are seemingly moving away from plans to create , with a new franchise roadmap revealing will remain the “foundational experience” in the years ahead. While there are a number of major game projects in the work, they won’t be numbered entries in the series – rather, they will allow for new gameplay experiences. Per Kate Gorman, EA Vice President and General Manager of , plans for have been put on hold indefinitely, as EA wants players to be able to maintain their gameplay and progress from .
“The way to think about it is, historically, franchise started with and then , and . And they were seen as replacements for the previous products,” Gorman recently . “What we’re really working with our community on is this a new era of .
We are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we’re only going to be adding to our universe.” “With that, you’ll see there are more ways to experience on different platforms, different ways to play, transmedia, and lots of great offerings within this universe. So absolutely, we’re still continuing to support more than ever.
Still continue to deliver expansion packs and updates and fixes. But what this is to say is, the way we’re going to do things going forward is a little different.” has a new franchise roadmap In a new blog, EA has , breaking down upcoming projects into a range of categories.
For a breakdown of what to expect, here’s everything revealed in quick bite form: This dot point deserves its own break out. As EA and Maxis have made clear, is not currently in development, despite frequent criticism from players that is now over a decade old and is looking and feeling its age. EA and Maxis have seemingly acknowledged this, and are currently working on modernising and fixing the game to ensure it remains fully playable and polished for modern audiences.
Earlier in 2024, a dedicated team was established to “invest in the core game experience” and tackle the major technical issues dogging the game. To date, this team has addressed a range of core issues, and it will continue to release new updates every two months or so. In addition to fixes, team is also now working to create “meaningful new features” that will introduce new ways to play.
That includes creating new in-game events with exclusive rewards, with these encouraging daily play. (For what it’s worth, there has been some pushback against these events on social media, with some players expressing concerns about live service aspects creeping into .) Beyond these developments, EA and Maxis have confirmed will be expanded significantly in the coming years, to “better serve the diverse needs of the growing number of Simmers around the world.
” A “variety of games and experiences that will touch different categories across the simulated life genre” are currently being developed, with a view to reach new players. We’ll have to wait to see what these plans entail, and how will further transform in future..
