As the final game packs and stuff packs are getting added to The Sims 4, the obvious question lingers on everyone's lips: when will we see The Sims 5? With so much speculation going around and fans desperately hoping for a new game that would completely overhaul things and bring back much-loved features like open-world and cars, it's difficult to contain our excitement.
EA has been very silent about The Sims 5, keeping all details under a tight lid, but there are still a few things that we can easily deduce simply by looking at the facts at hand and the schedules with previous Sims games in the franchise.
10 Confirmed: The Sims 4 Needs To Finish First
It probably goes without saying, but there most likely won't be another game in the series before all the content planned for The Sims 4 has been effectively churned out. If we look at past games, this has always been the case, since EA wants to make sure that the final version of the game has a chance on the market before it gets shelved by a new, better and possibly more interesting game.
So, for now it's a big waiting game, and we'll have to bear with it until the developers are happy with the state of the current game.
9 Likely: Better Base Game
When The Sims 4 first came out it wasn't exactly a huge success among fans. There were tons of complaints about missing features like toddlers and pools, and the world felt very narrow compared to The Sims 3, which was open-world.
It's therefore highly likely that EA will want to avoid this kind of disappointment reproducing itself in its next launch. It's safe to assume that the base game will be much more complete before brought to the market, and fans won't need to wait to get to play all the basic features of the game.
8 Confirmed: The Priority Is Sims 4
Whether or not the developers over at EA are currently working on The Sims 5 is a big mystery. We can probably assume that there's at least a few people involved in shaping the project, but it's unlikely that there's anything substantial going on as of yet.
This is because The Sims 4, despite all the criticism it has endured, has been a huge success over the years. There's no real hurry for EA to push anything better on the market as of yet, and if anything, the priority is to perfect The Sims 4 into the game it was envisioned to be.
7 Likely: More Microtransactions
Since The Sims 4 and The Sims mobile came out, the concept of microtransactions has been in the air quite a bit. You could argue that The Sims 4 already does this by separating all of its content into smaller game and stuff packs that fans then need to individually purchase.
If this is the model that EA is going for, it's very likely that it will be even worse of a situation in The Sims 5, where individual life states like vampires and mermaids might have to be purchased from a store. We hope this won't be the case, because nobody likes microtransactions and certainly not for a game that relies so much on content rather than story.
6 Confirmed: The Sims 5 Depends On Sims 4 Success
It's already been quoted that whether or not The Sims 5 will be a thing will depend quite a bit on the success of The Sims 4. If The Sims 4 can't bring in the revenue needed to provide funding for the next game, it won't be worth it for EA to keep working on the project.
While The Sims 4 has been a success despite its shortcomings, the frustration of fans has been undeniable. And with no proper competitor to EA's franchise to challenge them and hasten the process, it's likely that EA will stay where it feels most comfortable for as long as possible.
5 Likely: Open-World
One of the biggest demands from the fans since the release of The Sims 4 has been the return of the open-world environment that was seen in The Sims 3. The world felt so much more real and vibrant when it could be accessed easily at all times from anywhere, although it did present its fair share of challenges to low-grade computers.
That said, developers have a unique chance to perfect the engine and make cuts where needed to provide an open-world experience to fans.
4 Confirmed: The Final Packs Are Being Published
If we look at the way that past games in the franchise have progressed, it's safe to assume we're just about reaching the final push for The Sims 4 content. Usually the last packs and expansions involve supernatural things like magic, other dimensions, the future and aliens, which we've all seen in past expansions.
With university confirmed and just around the corner, there isn't much more that the developers could do to make the game bigger and better. This is a good sign, because it means we might be on the brink of moving on to The Sims 5 and closing The Sims 4 series for good.
3 Likely: Graphics Overhaul
Looking at all the previous The Sims games, it's easy to tell that each game had its own style and vibe. The developers never disappointed and always came back with even better and more elaborate-looking graphics and animations to make things feel real.
This most likely means that there will be a huge graphics overhaul for The Sims 5, with a brand new style for the characters and the world, but still in the same vain as the previous games. Because of this, the reason why we might be waiting for The Sims 5 for so long is because hardware is changing and next-generation consoles are rumored to be released in just a few years.
2 Confirmed: The Sims 5 Is Late
If we take into account the release schedule of previous games and base our judgment purely on how things were done in the past, The Sims 5 is already late in schedule. A new The Sims game has always been released within four to five years of the previous one, but The Sims 4 has persisted for some time now.
Early predictions set the first teasers and trailers to be released in 2018 or 2019, but we're still waiting and there hasn't been a whisper from the developers. This is either very bad sign... or a well-kept secret.
1 Likely: The 20th Anniversary Surprise
Although much of what we discussed here might seem skeptical about us getting The Sims 5 in the next two years, there's still some hope in the horizon. Next year is 2020, which marks the 20th anniversary of The Sims franchise.
This is a big event for EA, and it would be a huge mistake from them not to do something wow-worthy to celebrate this. It could be the perfect chance to show fans the first trailer for The Sims 5, and perhaps even a sneak peek with an early gameplay demo.