Sims 5 isn't happening, EA to continue mining Sims 4 with new user-generated content economy

Electronic Arts is leaning harder into user-generated content economies a la Minecraft and Roblox, and soon Sims players will be able to buy new content bundles.

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EA's recent investor's day had a lot to say about AI and user-generated content. The billion-dollar publisher intends to use generative AI to supercharge the production of UGC (or what it calls UGX--User Generated Experiences). The idea is that AI tools could help accelerate the creation of these custom in-game levels, characters, and modes, thereby having more content on a digital market at a quicker rate.

It's unclear on whether or not this AI-driven UGX platform is coming to The Sims 4, but EA did confirm that it will not be making a traditional sequel to the franchise. The Sims 5 isn't happening, and instead, EA will elongate The Sims 4 to ensures gamers can continue their decade's worth of stories and adventures for even longer. EA is also adding a new Creator Kit economy which will allow The Sims 4 players to buy bundles of user-generated content. Think of this as a little bit like Bethesda's controversial Creation Club (aka paid mods)

"The way to think about it is, historically, The Sims franchise started with Sims 1 and then Sims 2, 3, and 4. They were seen as replacements for the previous products. [But now,] we are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we're only going to be adding to our universe," The Sims franchise general manager Kate Gorman told Variety.

"What this means is that we will continue to bring [new] experiences and what people would want from The Sims 5. Those creations are your progress, your attachment. We don't want to reset your progress."

So the essence of the announcement is that EA won't make The Sims 5, and will instead monetize The Sims 4 in a new way with its Roblox-style custom content packs that will be sold for real money. Up until now, these user-made pieces of custom content have been free.

This plan is alongside new The Sims 4 content expansions that will also be created and sold for money over time.