The Sims 5 news, multiplayer rumors and everything we know so far

techradar.com:

If you've been thinking about The Sims 5 recently then don't worry, you’re not alone. While it hasn't been officially revealed by EA Maxis just yet, the next chapter of the hugely successful life sim franchise is reportedly in development and the developer has teased that the «next generation» of the Sims could involve a focus on social and online experiences. Rumors have even suggested this new Sims title might be cloud-based and involve some kind of multiplayer element.

The Sims 4 is, of course, still going strong, with expansions, Stuff Packs, mods and even live music festivals keeping things interesting. But, it's coming up for seven years since The Sims 4 base game was released so it's not surprising that fans are starting to get curious about what Maxis and EA could have planned for the future.

Given we've not had any firm announcement from EA, it seems likely that if The Sims 5 is coming, it's still a while away. In the meantime, though, we've gathered all the latest news and rumors about the game below and we'll update regularly.

[Update: Could a recent patent pointto the possible implementation of AI technology in The Sims 5? Read on to find out more.]

As it stands, the game apparently isn't far along at all, with NME reporting that The Sims 5 is currently in its «conceptual phase». With that in mind, we probably shouldn't expect to see The Sims 5 for a few years yet — we would predict not until at least 2023. 

Bear in mind that the gap between past The Sims iterations has been typically long as well. The Sims 3 came out in 2009, after which The Sims 4 was released in 2014. This means this is the longest we've ever gone without a brand-new mainline Sims game.

However, it stands to reason that The Sims 4 is still going