'The Sims 5' Development Update May Have Been Hinted At By EA

A recent interview with one of the executives of Electronic Arts (EA) may have hinted at the development status of "The Sims 5" or the next "The Sims" game.

In a fireside chat with Geoff Keighley during Venture Beat's GamesBeat Summit 2021 event, EA's Chief Studio Officer Laura Miele talked about a lot of things about the company. She discussed what it was like to manage various game teams during the pandemic. The interview also touched on different EA franchises. More importantly, she shared some insights about "The Sims," which offered some clues about "The Sims 5."

When asked about what fans could expect from the next "The Sims" game, the executive confirmed that the team is currently hard at work on the "next-generation "The Sims" game and on some of the things that they plan to bring into this new game." During the interview, Keighley said, "I imagine as The Sims becoming more of a platform for creativity – it feels like an opportunity?"

To which Miele responded, saying, "Absolutely. And it's us being able to create a framework and that players are actually gonna create these experiences and in the end it's doing it together, doing it collaboratively. They are sharing, they could create marketplaces." She added, "What we arm them with and the capabilities and frameworks we arm them with and where they take that I think it's going to be a pretty significant surprise and a pretty exciting time for us as we bring these tools and platforms to market."

Miele believes that there is "a lot of fertile ground" for "The Sims." Aside from players getting tools to play with, EA intends to utilize all of its learnings for the past 18 years for the franchise. The executive shared that she wants players to have creativity, flexibility and tools to combine and remix items and objects in-game. "You can imagine where we're taking this franchise and this brand," she noted during the fireside chat.

It might be a while before fans could hear more official news about the next "The Sims" title. While rumors claim that EA and Maxis might announce the game sometime this June, it is not yet officially confirmed.