Image via EA
2026 has been another difficult year for the video game industry. Even with nearly guaranteed hits like Grand Theft Auto 6 and the Ocarina of Time remake on the horizon, many studios are struggling. Major gaming companies like Xbox have undergone massive restructurings, leading to studio shutdowns and far, far too many people left without work. Not long after being acquired by a Saudi Arabian investment firm back in August, Electronic Arts saw massive layoffs as well. Most notably, EA has decided to shutter BioWare, the beloved studio that brought us games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. And those franchises likely won’t be the only ones to suffer.
The news of BioWare’s shutdown is, of course, devastating for everyone involved. It’s terrible to know that so many people at BioWare and across EA more broadly are left without jobs. But it’s hard for gamers to hear, too. An outpouring of love for BioWare’s legacy followed the news of its imminent shutdown, along with well wishes for those impacted to find work again soon.
While Mass Effect and Dragon Age fans mourn what we’ve lost, including a new Mass Effect game, EA’s layoffs could be a dark omen for another long-running franchise. Tucked in at the tail end of Bloomberg’s news about the BioWare closure, The Sims fans got some insight into what’s next for the life sim series. And if I wasn’t already concerned, I certainly am now.
The Sims Project Cancelled Alongside BioWare Shutdown
With 400 people impacted by EA’s layoffs, BioWare was far from the only studio impacted. The gaming company plans to focus on its popular sports games, Apex Legends, and upcoming projects including the next Star Wars Jedi game. For my fellow The Sims fans, broader changes at EA naturally leave us wondering what’s next. Indeed, many longtime fans of the life sim franchise have been worried about what the sale to Saudi Arabian investors might do to the notoriously LGBTQ+ friendly franchise.
For now, Maxis and The Sims are ostensibly safe from a full-on shutdown. However, in its longer statement about the game company’s future, EA states it’s “pausing development” on Project Lotus, which is almost certainly the game more commonly known by fans as Project Rene. Those remaining at Maxis will instead be focusing on another game with the code name Project Evergreen. Though not confirmed, this may be the same project as the previously rumored Project X, a next-generation single-player game to serve as the successor to The Sims 4.
Cancelling a project and laying off a number of the studio staff certainly doesn’t instill confidence in the future of The Sims. And Maxis has been relatively quiet about new, major updates to its currently supported title, The Sims 4. The game has continued to receive a number of quality-of-life updates and free content patches. But the lack of new, major announcements for upcoming expansion packs suggests that The Sims could finally be preparing to sunset new content for its current go-to title. That leaves a big question: what’s next?
That question seems to be one that EA has long been wrestling with. Now, with one major studio shutdown and EA’s stated focus on sports games and major IP tie-ins like Star Wars and Marvel’s Iron Man, I am officially pretty worried we won’t see a follow-up to The Sims 4 at all.
The Struggle to Find a Follow-Up to The Sims 4 Apparently Continues
For years, Project Rene has been billed as the next big thing out of The Sims. In that time, the project has seemingly undergone several shifts in direction. It was most recently billed as a mobile-first, multiplayer-focused title, taking it even further from The Sims 4 than we immediately thought. Project Rene was never intended to be The Sims 5, and if it and Project Lotus truly are one and the same, it’s likely not going to happen at all.
In the 2026 roadmap for The Sims, Maxis affirmed its commitment to single-player titles for PC and console. The studio also teased “the next evolution” after The Sims 4. So, it’s likely that whatever Project Evergreen is has been underway for a while. Just probably not quite as long as Project Rene, since we still know relatively little about this next evolution.
Between fan backlash about the acquisition and general frustration about ongoing bugs for The Sims 4, the franchise was already on rocky footing. Now, the struggle to find a follow-up to The Sims 4 feels all the more dire. The silver lining here is that a single-player project like Project Evergreen feels like a more obvious step in the right direction. But amid concerns about changes to inclusive content, and now one major project cancelled, the future of The Sims feels more uncertain than ever.
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