New Job Listing Hints At Sims 5 Multiplayer
"Sul sul" - that means hello in Simlish. We've got some news hot off the press when it comes to The Sims 5 thanks to a new job listing. It's already been seven years since we jumped back into the simulation showstopper of The Sims 4, and while there are reports that The Sims 5 is on the way, we find ourselves asking when that'll be. With players expecting something new for the next generation of The Sims, could we finally be getting a competitive multiplayer mode?
In 2000, The Sims broke onto the PC scene with a game that hoped to go a bit deeper than the already established SimCity series. A phenomenon was born as we kitted out our houses, developer relationships, and tortured our Sims until they were nothing more than gravestones and ghosts in the back garden. Each of the four main games has added something new, but that hasn't stopped critics saying we've peaked in terms of playability.
What's The Sims 5 multiplayer rumour?
According to Sims Community, The Sims 5 could be adding competitive multiplayer. Three jobs have appeared on the Maxis website, that hint at the future of The Sims in a big way. The company is recruiting for a Backend Software Engineer in EA Redwood, EA Austin, and EA Canada. As well as developing features for the new Sims game, they want engineers who are are able to "develop responsive, resilient, massively scalable, and globally available web services that support millions of players". Multiplayer anyone?
Further amping up the idea of The Sims 5 multiplayer, there's an interesting mention of "cheating prevention". It's easy to imagine EA following in the footsteps of Epic Games and creating a Fortnite-inspired version of The Sims. The job listings are looking for the right person who can "creatively blend security best practices and original techniques to keep user data secure and prevent cheating". For as long as we can remember, we've competed with the Jones' next door and visited other people's neighbourhoods to take a nosey at their work, however, there's never really been a competitive element to The Sims.
Should The Sims 5 finally introduce multiplayer?
Rumours of The Sims 5 adding multiplayer are nothing new. Considering the base games are littered with cheats - and most of us can be accused of using the unlimited Simoleons cheat - it's interesting that EA makes a specific mention of cheating. Last January, EA CEO Andrew Wilson told investors (via Sims Community) that The Sims 5 could add a competitive edge. Wilson explained, "This notion of social interactions and competition like the kind of things that were actually present in The Sims Online many many years ago – that they will start to become a part of The Sims experience in the years to come".
The Sims Online was something of a failed experiment that tried to cash in on the comparative massively multiplayer online genre in 2007. It was later rebranded as EA-Land and was shut down after just one year. In the end, poor sales and criticisms you couldn't create custom content like in competition Second Life led to The Sims Online's short-lived existence. Despite it being held as something of a disaster, The Sims Online had so much potential. If The Sims 5 is revisiting multiplayer, it would definitely be one way to give the long-running simulation a kick up the backside.
We've enjoyed a whopping 21 years of The Sims and toured the world with various expansion packs. From spicing things up with Hot Date to making furry friends in Pets, trying to be the next big thing in Showtime to getting away from it all with Island Life, we've done it all. Our personal favourite was pretending we were little Harry Potters with Makin' Magic. Still, it'll take more than just a Game of Thrones expansion to get us parting with our cash all over again - oh wait, we had that with The Sims Medieval in 2011. It's about time we give the core values of The Sims Online another chance. Adding multiplayer to The Sims 5 is one way to ensure you'll get repeat customers and newcomers alike.
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