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The Sims 5 will be free to download

Electronic Arts plans to monetize the next Sims game beyond a base purchase, but also wants to 'lower barriers to play and give all players the broadest shared systems.'

TJ Denzer

September 13, 2023 11:05 AM

Image via Electronic Arts

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Electronic Arts hasn’t officially called it The Sims 5, but it’s pretty obvious at this point that another Sims game is on the way, and it seems it will have some very EA monetization behind it. Currently under the codename Project Rene, the next Sims game is still in development, but EA shared some new details about what players can expect, including that monetization strategy. To start, the next Sims game will be free to download. However, EA will monetize the game in other ways.

EA announced Project Rene as free to download via a recent developer blog update on the Sims franchise. In that update, when talking about the next Sims game, EA revealed that the core experience will be free to download. EA goes on to explain that it’s a part of making the game available to as many people as possible with a low barrier to get in.

That isn’t to say that The Sims 5 will be free altogether. EA is a little notorious for making tons of paid DLC for The Sims and making it a web of microtransactions. It’s an issue compounded by the fact that EA has already said Project Rene will coexist alongside Sims 4, which has used that very monetization strategy. EA also goes on to explain that The Sims 5 will grow with new and premium content over time, as explained below.

The Sims 4 similarly went free-to-play with premium DLC behind paywalls late in 2022. It will remain to be seen exactly how it plays out in The Sims 5 or whatever Project Rene ends up being named. Stay tuned for more updates here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.