Will The Sims 5 Be Open World?

The release of The Sims 5 has been a source of speculation for years, with The Sims 4 over eight years old now, players are eagerly anticipating what the next generation of Sims games may look like.

Earlier in 2021, The Sims Summit introduced to the elusive '"Project Rene," which is a likely codename for The Sims 5 - scheduled for development in the next few years. To learn more about The Sims 5 and which early features it may have, including an open world, read here.

• You can also check out everything else we learnt at The Sims Summit regarding Project Rene and more, here.

The Sims 5 Leaked Images

After an early EA playtest, leaked screenshots of the current game were spread across Reddit and Twitter by user @TheSims5_World, who has since deleted their account. Some have speculated that the Tweet was sent out by the Sims team themselves to drive up the hype.

However, as The Sims 5 is years away, and play testers were allowed to invite family and friends, the images were likely leaked during the playtest. Since then, reports have also circulated that The Sims 5 had been hacked and members of the public were able to access it without being invited to the playtest.

From the leaked images, we can speculate on the many features The Sims 5 may have. As the project has years in development yet, this is all subject to change, and the finished project will likely look much different.

• For more information on the leak, you can visit our article on The Sims 5 screenshots leak here.

The Sims 5: Apartments, Cars And Workshop Tool

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The above images were the ones leaked across Reddit (by user u/MeowDayThe13th) after The Sims playtest. As you can see, they depict apartments and a "workshop" tool to customise furnishing size, colour, parts, patterns, and materials.

These features were briefly shown during The Sims Summit, which highlighted a similar mechanic to The Sims 3 colour wheel, used to change patterns and textures of furniture. Apartments only came to The Sims 4 with its first major expansion pack, The Sims 4: City Living. As such, to have apartment neighbourhoods straight away in The Sims 5 will excite many players.

It is mutually agreed amongst Sims players that The Sims 4 was released with only the essentials, we didn’t even have the swimming pools or toddlers. To have the Sims 5 release with different neighbourhoods would be a positive thing. Cars also seem to be featured heavily in the screenshots. These may just be set dressing, there are many neighbourhoods in The Sims 4 which contain non-playable vehicles.

If The Sims 5 chooses to also feature cars we can purchase, upgrade, and use to get from one neighbourhood to another, this would be a huge win for Sims players who have been asking for vehicles in The Sims 4 for years. The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff first introduced an expanded list of vehicles and the "Vehicle Enthusiast" trait to the franchise. Players have been wanting something similar implemented in The Sims 4 onwards for years now.

The Sims 5: Open World Gameplay

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Beyond the leaked screenshots, Twitter user @TheSims5_World also leaked gameplay showing early concept models for NPCs, apartment furnishings and more. The account has since been removed, but you can see screenshots of the leaked gameplay on this Sims Community Forum here.

Whilst most Sims players have agreed that they would like to see an open-world system implemented in The Sims 5, others worry that it would affect the stability of the game and framerate. From The Sims Summit, Maxis were keen to promote compatibility across platforms and suggested that The Sims 5 may also come to mobile.

Having The Sims 5 on mobile would further risk framerate and call an open world into question. Whether The Sims 5 is open world or not, we can't wait to see what the Maxis team has in stall for us over the next few years.

• For more information on how The Sims 5 leak happed, read our article on The Sims 5 being pirated here.