On first response, (as usual) a lot of users dismissed this leak as fake, and some were actually pretty mad about it...

While the rage from some of the comments might be unwarranted, giving the post was published it makes a lot more sense. In 2020, The Sims 4 was way past its prime to some, since the cycle of sims games was usually 4 years and then a new installment in the series would be released...

A year later, EA announced that they would be continuing the development of the Sims 4, this statement was announced by a Sims Guru (sims developer ) in a live stream about the future of the sims 4 and what the sims team was up to:

(Screenshot from Sims Community Info)

What Guru Azure said at the end of the article really made me think....

Like I mentioned before EA plans for The Sims 4 to last for a while, but this was also mentioned in the Sims 5 leak too, at the VERY start of the post!

This statement becomes even clearer with the fact that in 2021 EA posted a job listing for someone to oversee the development of Sims 4 over a long period of time, even in the listing they stated The Sims 4 to be a multi-year product, and help drive long term vision for the sims 4

I think EA making Sims 4 a free-to-play live service game kind of hints to the Sims 5 being something completely new (in terms of Sims game), The Reddit post listed a bunch of features that aren't usual staples of sims games; One playable family per sim game, randomly generated lore and pre-made sims, and MULTIPLAYER! Multiplayer has been a big talking point for the sims ever since Sims online and maybe even before that. The Sims 4 was originally going to be a multiplayer sims game but after the backlash from Sim City, that idea was super scrapped, which is why the sims 4 base game had such little to offer on release. 

There are a bunch of Youtube videos that go over The Sims 4 starting as a multiplayer game and being rushed into a traditional simulator game. This post would be a mile long if I went over all the details that made the game into what it is today, but if you're interested here are a few videos that go over the sims 4 development...

According to the leak, the graphics sound like they aim to be more realistic and even add an open world (similar to GTA according to the leak), this would make sense to add to a game that was going to be completely different from previous Sims games.  The reason why Sims 4 couldn't have an open world is that the game wouldn't be able to run on low-end computers, which is also why they went with a more cartoony aesthetic a lot of people have grown to love the Sims 4 cartoony aesthetic, but there are also other who wish for a more realistic aesthetic. I could really see someone who was really fed up with The Sims 4's cartoony look to be on board to play a new sims game with a more realistic look, while someone who is content with how the game looks would just stay loyal to sims 4. 

Some people aren't hyped for the sims 4 because they think that it'll just be another bare-bones base game, but I don't think that's true, as I mentioned before one of the reasons why The Sims 4 was so bare at the start was because they REALLY REALLY banked on the game being multiplayer and being an rpg/social sims (which why alot of family aspects in Sims were non existence or undercooked) and when that was scrapped there wasn't much else let to offer. In the post, I showed before talking about the early development of the sims 4 it mentions that the sims 4 started development in 2008, 6 years before it was planned to release. According, to Game Maker studios it takes 3 to 4 years to make a brand new AAA game...Someone on Game dev. net mention that it takes 4+ years to develop a game with a new engine... The Game Maker post also mentions games like Persona, GTA, Legend Of Zelda, and Assassin's Creed as games that have a large time gap in between them, I could think this could be because each persona game is different from the last, each LOZ game is different from the last, and each Assassin's Creed game is different  (same with GTA).  The post continues to say that AAA publishers want the gap in-between new titles to be as short as possible, the fact that sims 4 was so rushed makes sense with this info since they already spent so much time working on the sims 4 by time sims 3 ended its cycle; they didn't want to miss the release window.

Back to Sims 5, for the sims 5 to reach the release window of 2023 like the leaked post says that means that EA had to been working on it since 2017/18, if we were to look at Sims news back in 2018  in regards to new game development we would find..

This article talks about job listing for a new title for the sims, now, I know I said before that it takes 6 years to develop a Sims game, but this makes the maybe release date of the sims 4 to be 2024 (which I don't mind), but I think during this time EA was trying to catch up and make the sims 4 have all the features that the fans wanted since around this time they had just released the toddler's stuff pack. The article mentions a spot for a Software Engineer, which is basically the person responsible for making a whole new engine for an application (in this case a game)...

The person on Game Dev net said making a game with a new engine takes even longer than a standard AAA development with a previous engine. The article also shows a job posting for a 3d modeler and the modeler's job requirements mention being good at making realistic models...

( this goes with the fact that the sims 5 could be of higher quality graphics wise)

Under the Executive Producer job listing, it lists being able to produce a AAA title, and even expand a whole new franchise as requirements..

The leak also mentions that The Sims 5  will have a higher rating (age wise) to 16+, while the Sims 4 is rated T for Teen, many consider it to be the tamest out of the four games, especially compared to sims 2 (like OOF, my dude). This video by Yasmin's Corner goes into further detail about how the sims 4 has become so sanitized compared to previous entries...

The leak talks about the sims 5 having a pack that involves crime and punishment (which probably means we'll have robbers back, this time for real), having your sim being able to commit crimes and go to jail or at least face the consequences for them. Unrelated but I forgot to mention this earlier, but the leak details that the base game for Sims 5 will have different lifestyle states such as living in a house, a camper, an apartment, or even just homeless which is already a big step up from Sims 4 which didn't even have apartments on launch.

Some players are worried about the Sims 5 being multiplayer meaning that they can't play the game their way but the leak says that there will be multiplayer but with restrictions, seeing that they probably learned from both Sims City and The Sims Online, and since its a Sims game I'm pretty should there at least could be an option to play single player and if not you still could go back and play the previous sims games.

A small reason why I believe in this leak, that strangely enough, only a few people have really mentioned is that the sims have changed their logo on Twitter, which doesn't seem like a big thing at face value but when you think about it, it actually is. Every time Sims has changed their Plumbob/Icon it is usually because a new game is coming, I remember in The Sims 3 University they had a bunch of items and a whole statue hinting to the Sims 4 coming....

(I think the fifth generation of the Plumbob started around the time EA said they planned to continue the development of the sims 4)

(EA even change the logo for The Sims help desk, which is something they don't do very often)

I think the Plumbob also being two different colors says something about the new direction EA is going, its purple to symbolize the new game (probably sims 5) coming, but it still has a hint of green to show that sims 4 will still be continuing...maybe. I don't know that's just what I think...

Quick Edit: after making this post I found out about an article posted on Sims Community Info about the Plumbob having a code name of Project Sunrise, Sims 4 had two codenames Project Olympus and Project Icarus, The Project Sunrise was changed once people found out since it could be found in the inner workings of the website, so maybe I'm onto something....

Before I end this post, another leak was released by Instant Gaming, even though the wording is a little off, it repeats a lot of the points the Reddit leak touched on..

This listing says that the multiplayer is an OPTION, which means if you're not interested in multiplayer it's not the end all be all...

"New to Sims 5 is the highly anticipated multiplayer option. It is a great way to connect with your friends and it is cross platform cloud-based play, which means that it doesn’t matter which console your friends have. "

--Instant-Gaming.com

I know this post might sound like a MIGHTY BIG HALO REACH, but a girl could dream, and at least judging by the time frame between the new game job listings and now, I'm pretty sure we'll at least get SOMETHING new sim game related if not Sims 5. Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk about the Sims 5, and the Sims Summit in general.

Until Next Time, Later Days...