Wow, those leaked details about Sims Project Rene seem a little rough and unpolished, don’t they?

Back in 2022, when Project Rene was first announced, everyone quite fairly assumed that it would go on to become The Sims 5, given that The Sims 4 was quite old by that point. Then, last year, EA actually said no, they’re not making a Sims 5, they’re just going to keep making things for The Sims 4, and Project Rene will be more of a multiplayer game. While bits and pieces of the game have been shared here and there, some gameplay of Project Rene now appears to have been shared online, which looks like it very much wasn’t meant to be seen by many eyes.

Now, to be clear, the game hasn’t technically been labelled as a Sims game. On the Google Play Store it’s been listed as City Life Game with Friends. It is from EA’s official account though, and your character both has one of those classic plumbobs, is referred to as a Sim, and speaks Simlish throughout the gameplay footage (which you can check out below).

It’s absolutely worth noting that the leaked footage in question is obviously from quite an early build of the game. It certainly looks functional, but to be honest, it also looks a bit dull. You can see what appears to be other players walking around, and other footage appears to show that you have the ability to chat over text or voice, but from the various clips shared online, right now it doesn’t appear like there’s meaningful ways to interact with anyone else.

Another clip shows that you can create your own cafe, but it looks like more of a challenge than the usual casual approach to building, with a timer counting you down. You also seem to be playing as one, specific Sim rather than acting as a benevolent/ unkind god over all Sims, which doesn’t really feel like it taps into the appeal of a series.

Again, it’s clearly early days for Project Rene, I mean, City Life Game with Friends, I just can’t help but wonder if this is a future SimCity 2013 level disaster waiting to happen. Sims with multiplayer doesn’t sound awful in concept, though the proof will be in the pudding.