In a podcast, a developer reveals more about what the multiplayer of the next The Sims should look and feel like.
The Sims 5 is probably still a few years away, but at least we now know that the next installment of the life simulation is in development. It is also already known that there will be some changes: The Sims 5 will be Free2Play from the start and there will be a multiplayer mode. And the developers already have some ideas for that.
This is how multiplayer should be
In a podcast , developer Lyndsay Pearson talks about why multiplayer is inspired by Animal Crossing and Among Us and what it should feel like to play together with others. It is once again made clear that The Sims 5 should not feel like an MMO :
[…] Not multiplayer in a big, scary jump into a world full of strangers kind of way. It’s actually about how you and your friends want to play with each other a little.
The multiplayer mode is intended to be more of an optional addition to the normal Sims gameplay , which is why people often talk about Animal Crossing :
Because it’s such a good example of: This is my little space, my little island, but I can invite you.
You can also get excited about finding your own unique ways of interacting in Animal Crossing that the game doesn’t specifically support. The community would come up with scavenger hunts or hold talk shows.
Pearson sees further inspiration for the multiplayer mode of The Sims 5 in multiplayer games that are particularly clever . She uses Among Us as an example , because here you have to uncover a secret but have to talk about it in order to find the truth.
Exactly how these ideas will ultimately affect the multiplayer of The Sims 5 cannot really be predicted at the moment. After all, the life simulation is still a long way from release and a lot of things can still change in the plans for the game.