Will The Sims 5 be open world? Here’s what we know

The Sims 5 could finally push the popular series into a full open world, but what exactly would that mean for The Sims? Here’s what we know so far.

With The Sims 5 officially in development, fans are already theorizing what new features could be included in the next installment of the venerated series. Chief among these ideal features is an open world where sims could maneuver through a town or neighborhood all on their own. The Sims series has actually had open world elements before, but The Sims 5 could push it to a whole new level. But will this much-anticipated feature be delivered to fans?

Details on The Sims 5 are scarce, but developer statements have hinted at new social elements for the series. Many fans are interpreting this as a hint at multiplayer, but it could also refer to an open world scenario. 

“…our biggest opportunities with The Sims is the social connection component that we need to bring to this brand and this franchise. The team is hard at work on the next generation of that experience,” EA chief studio officer Laura Miele said.

An open world for The Sims would help to resolve several potential issues with multiplayer. Players would be able to interact with different ends of the map with ease, and player-controlled characters could interact with each other more naturally. Fewer loading screens also means less opportunity for the game to desync between players, leading to connection issues and resulting frustrations. 

Open world gameplay is also one of the most popular fan requests for The Sims 5. The Sims 4 locks players to individual scenes, and fans often criticize its clunky travel system. With the potential multiplayer benefits apparent and the game’s community alraedy behind it, The Sims 5 would greatly benefit from returning to a more open world design. Ultimately, it’s up to Maxis to confirm in open-world implementations in The Sims 5.

What does open world mean for The Sims 5?

Open world in video games usually refers to a massive sprawling area that players are free to explore, but the term means something slightly different for The Sims 5.

If The Sims 5 is open world, sims would be able to leave their homes and explore the surrounding areas all on their own. In The Sims 4, players must manually move their characters to a new area in order for them to interact with other sims. This involves multiple menus and loading screens, which can make for a somewhat tedious process.

While it seems like a technologically demanding task, the Sims series had open world elements long before The Sims 5. In The Sims 2, players could watch sims leave their homes and interact with the rest of a small neighborhood. These sims could form new relationships, meet new people, and discover new things on their own. The feature was expanded upon in The Sims 3, but was unceremoniously removed from The Sims 4.