"This is without a doubt the ugliest artstyle I've ever seen in a game."
Screenshots that claim to be from a recent playtest for the next major Sims game, codenamed Project Rene have surfaced, and the Sims community is absolutely not picking up what EA is putting down.
This all comes from a post by DzXAnt22 on the Gaming Leaks and Rumours subreddit, courtesy of the same user who leaked some footage and datamined the map from the first playtest earlier this year. They explain in the post that the playtest was only available on mobile this time around, despite the first playtest being available on PC. They also mention that the playtest was a very small snippet, focusing on Live mode while all of the elements from the first playtest were absent.
The screenshots show a handful of preset Sims—DzXAnt22 says that Create-A-Sim wasn’t included in this build—along with outfits that could be purchased with in-game currency. Further images take place in Live mode, showing quests like “Buy a new Outfit” and “Complete a Shift at the Café”. If DzXAnt22’s censoring is anything to go by, it looks like other real players are milling about as well.
Aside from in-game screenshots, DzXAnt22 also shared the app store description for The Sims Labs: The Hub, which is where the playtest came from. It reads: “Explore a Parisian neighborhood full of unique activities and stylish rewards,” with a brief description before concluding “The features in this app do not necessarily represent the direction or content of any upcoming Sims game.”
NEW Project Rene (Formerly “The Sims 5”) Screenshots and Information from r/GamingLeaksAndRumours
It’s worth pointing out that there’s no way to 100% confirm that this is from Project Rene right now. Here’s what has everyone convinced that it is: The location has mighty similar vibes to the one in Rene’s first playtest, and EA did specifically mention that playtesting for the game would be happening right around now. It’s stated to be a multiplayer test which, going by DzXAnt22’s screenshots, it appears to be.
But Project Rene isn’t the only game that’s part of EA’s vision for “The Sims Hub” as announced during its recent investor presentation. There’s also The Sims 4, My Sims, and Project Stories, which is a mobile game we currently know nothing about. Considering the very mobile game interface and the crusty character models, there’s the smallest of chances we could be looking at that instead. Here’s what the screenshots could be from, based on what we know EA is working on:
Project Stories, the mobile gameThe mobile version of Project Rene which Maxis previously described as “a different experience” from the desktop versionA secret third thing we don’t know anything aboutA completely pared down version of the entire Project Rene that looks nothing like the pretty lighting engine shots we saw before
The one certainty is that, whatever this is, folk are not happy about it. “Dear god my eyes they burn,” one Redditor wrote, while another said “Looks like a cheap mobile game with bad graphics and microtransactions for every little thing. Hopefully this is just a rudimentary mock up because if this is the real game, I will absolutely not be playing.” Multiple comments along the lines of “ugly,” “horrific,” and “garbage” are trailed across multiple leak-related Reddit posts.
As someone rightly points out, if Project Rene does turn out to have devolved into a full-fledged mobile game, that would mean three individual mobile Sims games: Freeplay, Project Stories, and Rene itself. That’s a lot of mobile games to be pushing while continuing to beat your 10-year-old mainline Sims game like a dead horse. But with Rene originally being touted as a multi-platform experience, there’s still some small glimmer of hope (read: probably copium) in my soul.
PC Gamer has asked EA for comment on the leaks, but have yet to hear back. I’ll update this piece if the team receives a response.
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