As the next installment in The Sims, Project Rene has been marketed and publicized as the title that will revolutionize the franchise. EA and Maxis have been rather tight-lipped about the exact details of Project Rene, but the game’s multiplayer and cross-platform capabilities have been pushed to the forefront as the main selling point. With these features in mind, careers in Project Rene could look entirely different from previous installments in The Sims franchise.
In addition to the small amount of information EA and Maxis have released about Project Rene, leaks about the mysterious game have been rampant. This gives players a more solid base to theorize how careers will work in Project Rene.
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What is Known About Project Rene’s Multiplayer
Leaks from Project Rene have been released multiple times since the project was announced in 2022. Most of these leaks have been brought to light in the form of images, though data miners have also had their hand in revealing information about the project.
However, playtesters for Project Rene have spilled some major beans about the game. Though all the information in the leaks should be taken with a grain of salt, if true, these leaked features could be the basis for radically different gameplay in comparison to other installments in The Sims franchise.
The aforementioned playtester leaked information about their game experience on Reddit. Included in this description was their experience with career gameplay. The playtester worked in a cafe, serving coffee, espresso, and croissants to patrons who were NPCs. Working in the cafe earned the playtester Simoleons and XP, which could be used to buy clothes and level up respectively. This part of Project Rene’s gameplay was described as “grindy” by the playtester.
While the description of the alleged gameplay by the play tester does not describe the player interacting with other playtesters, it would make sense if players interacted with each other in careers throughout Project Rene’s gameplay, considering EA and Maxis’ heavy emphasis on multiplayer interaction.
How Multiplayer Career Game Play Could Work in Project Rene
Using the alleged cafe gameplay as a diving board, the NPCs the play tester described could be replaced with actual players instead. The Sims 4’s cafe gameplay uses Townies, as the game does not have multiplayer capabilities. Since The Sims team already has a basis for cafe gameplay with The Sims 4, replacing Townies with actual players in Project Rene while maintaining similar gameplay seems like a fairly simple solution.
This could be taken a step further when actually working in the cafe career. In addition to serving other players as patrons in Project Rene, it would make sense if players worked alongside each other in the cafe. The play tester specifically mentions taking orders from NPCs. Perhaps players could be assigned a role during their “shift”, such as server, cashier, and barista. These could rotate hour by hour per the game’s internal clock to avoid the monotonous feeling the playtester described.
The cafe most likely won’t be the only job players will be able to take part in. Considering the wide variety of jobs across The Sims franchise, it would make sense for some of the franchise’s more eccentric careers, like the new Reaper career or base game additions like secret agent, to make an appearance. Obviously, Project Rene would put its own twist on the gameplay for these careers, but making them feature some multiplayer interactions should be a top priority considering how much EA and Maxis have mentioned the features.
Information about Project Rene may be scarce, but leaks about the game will likely continue to spread in the future. EA and Maxis seem to be firmly dedicated to the project, as The Sims 5 has been canceled, and Project Rene has essentially taken its place. It seems that the elusive multiplayer project is here to stay. Hopefully, Project Rene’s careers will be fun for all involved.
The Sims
Created by Will Wright and Maxis, and published by EA, The Sims is a long-running series of life simulation games with sandbox gameplay. Players create Sims and control every aspect of their lives, from the houses they live in to the jobs they work.