Sims 5: EA boss hints at multiplayer return for next generation of PlayStation and Xbox consoles

It's been six years since last game in beloved franchise

The Sims celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, and Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts, used the Q3 earnings call to drop some hints about the future of their best-selling life simulation franchise.

Responding to a question about The Sims Online, a now-defunct online game that was released in 2002 by EA, Wilson suggested the next Sims game would see a return to multiplayer functionality.

“As Maxis continues to think about The Sims for a new generation across platforms and a cloud-enabled world,” he said, “you should imagine that while we will always stay true to our inspiration, escape, creation, self-improvement motivation, that this notion of social interaction and competition – like the kind of things that were actually present in The Sims Online many years ago – will start to become part of the ongoing Sims experience in the years to come.”

It has been six years since the release of the franchise’s previous entry, The Sims 4, which became one of the highest-selling PC games of all time.

While EA still regularly releases downloadable expansion packs, many are hoping the upcoming fifth generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles will prompt a new sequel.

Wilson’s comments provide the first indication of what that might look like.