The Sims 5 devs “definitely” eager to add multiplayer after years of fan demands
EA / MaxisThe Sims 5 dev team is committed to introducing multiplayer to the franchise in the next sequel, with Vice President Lyndsay Pearson revealing that the feature is “definitely” on the cards and that they are workshopping ways to bring multiplayer to The Sims.
The Sims is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. The series lets players build a family, career, and world in a loop of never-ending gameplay and experiences. And with many new DLC packs introducing pets, new jobs, and more, fans of The Sims never truly run out of things to do.
While the franchise is filled with many beloved features, one that has yet to be added is multiplayer. After years and years of begging for it online, however, it appears that the dev team may finally be answering these calls.
In a new interview with Radio Times, Lyndsay Pearson, the vice president of creative on The Sims 4 and its upcoming sequel, The Sims 5, was asked if the new game will be looking at finally adding in multiplayer to the franchise. To which, she gave a positive response.
“We definitely want to introduce multiplayer,” Pearson said on the podcast. “And not multiplayer in the big, scary ‘jump in a world full of strangers’ kind of way. But literally, hey, do you and your friends want to do some play together?
“There’s a lot of different flavors that could take, so we’re exploring a lot of different spaces there.”
The Vice President then went into details about the types of conversations The Sims team has been engaging in in regards to how multiplayer could operate in the Sims universe.
“Playing together can look like so many different things, right? Even in our chat now, we’ve talked about, like, trivia games to fighting games to racing games, playing together and socializing can mean so many things…so we’re having a lot of fun exploring all those different opportunities, particularly within the context of The Sims, because it is still about these little characters, their little lives, and you helping guide them.”
When asked what types of other multiplayer experiences could inspire The Sims 5 multiplayer, Pearson was quick to cite Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a major talking point for their upcoming game.
Stating that they “talk about Animal Crossing all the time, because it is such a good example of my little space, my little island, but I can invite you over.
“And we’ve seen throughout the last few years of Animal Crossing, people inventing ways to play together that the game doesn’t specifically support, but they’ve made up scavenger hunts or whatever, which is amazing…or people who hosted talk shows on Animal Crossing, I think it is incredible, right?”
She added: “We actually look at a lot of games that are doing multiplayer in clever ways, like Among Us even, which is this sort of mystery thing, but you have to talk about it and solve it.”
The Sims 5 is one of the most eagerly anticipated future releases in the gaming industry. After all, The Sims 4 released way back in 2014, meaning gamers are eager to dip their toes into a whole new world.
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