EA, Maxis Seemingly Preparing For 'The Sims 5' With Graphics Engine Modernization

American video game company Electronic Arts (EA) and gaming studio Maxis are seemingly gearing up for the full-scale development of the highly anticipated title "The Sims 5" with graphics engine modernization and a hiring spree.

Maxis, the gaming studio behind the successful life-simulation game franchise "The Sims," posted a job listing for an experienced Senior Rendering Engineer who will work to "Improve game rendering performance by taking advantage of platform-specific capabilities."

The position will "establish and drive low-level performance profiling and optimization projects on multiple platforms." These descriptions suggest that Maxis intends to improve the game engine of "The Sims" in terms of graphics and performance.

Apart from "6 years of professional programming experience in real-time rendering," the job listing is looking for an engineer with "experience working in rendering for multiple shipped titles on current-generation hardware (PS5, XBSX, PC) and previous generation consoles (XB1, PS4)," suggesting that the enhancements are either for "The Sims 4" or for the development and release of "The Sims 5."

Maxis is also looking for a User Experience Researcher who will "conduct research for the future of The Sims franchise, delivering outstanding experiences for the millions of Sims players around the world."

This is not your typical researcher since the team wants to hire those with "advanced degree in experimental psychology (experimental, social, cognitive), human-computer interaction, human factors, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience" and those with over two years industry experience in "research design and conducting user research studies across platforms."

While both job listings do not explicitly say that the jobs are for "The Sims 5," the possibility that it is for the upcoming title is high. "The Sims 4" is still getting new content, although it has been in the industry for eight years.

Despite the expansions, however, "The Sims 4" is starting to show its age and soon, players will want to experience a new kind of life-simulation game other than the current game series iteration. EA and Maxis are still mum about the next generation of "The Sims" game.

The team is scheduled to release the teen-centered High School Years expansion on July 28. "The Sims 4" is playable on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.