The Sims 5 free? Job posting reveals ‘free-to-enter’ breakthrough

While The Sims 4 went free-to-play long after its initial launch, it’s very likely that Electronic Arts and Maxis have been thinking about this business model since the release for The Sims 5. A job posting found by simscommunity .info seems to confirm that the next iteration of the popular life sim series, which is currently officially known as Project Rene, will be a service game.

The Sims 5 free to enter —

“You will manage the in-game marketplace and UGC (user generated content, ed.) (free and paid) within Project Rene, and a player data-centric buying journey, maximizing value for players, optimizing models spending and minimizing player turnover,” reads the job posting for a new Head of Marketplace and Monetization. He continues: “You will manage the pricing of all content in this free-to-enter game, ensuring we have an optimal pricing and content architecture. You will provide guidance to the content teams to meet player demand.” While it’s unclear exactly what EA means by “free-to-enter,” it’s pretty clear that The Sims 5 — or at least core parts of the game — will be available for free. According to the announcement, Maxis wants to create “an agile test-learn-iterate live service culture across all platforms (PC, mobile, console).”

The difference with the previous chapter —

The Sims 4 has maintained its model of paid expansions, despite the move to make the base game free, and this is certainly a path that the sequel could also follow. Alternatively, EA could aim for a subscription model, as it had initially envisioned for The Sims 4: plans that were scrapped shortly before the game’s release at the time, with EA opting for the proven DLC model instead of risking it with one of its flagship products. It also appears that users will be able to monetize their content on the marketplace, by selling their creations in-game and sharing the proceeds with EA. As it turns out, this user-generated content could be available directly in the game, at least through official channels. Either way, The Sims 5 is still a few years away from launch, and a lot could change between now and then, as evidenced by the last-minute change to The Sims 4 business model.