Thumbnail photo credits: The Sims 4
It was on October 18 that the EA teams broadcast live on YouTube the Behind The Sims Summit Event, the not-to-be-missed event for the EA community. The latter has officially signed the passage in free-to-play of the fourth mythical opus of the license. On top of that, the company lifted the veil on a new chapter in its license’s history to interplanetary popularity with the announcement of Project René, aka The Sims 5, designed exclusively for the next-gen. Largely focused on the social side of the Simsosphere, Project René will allow players to evolve in “co-op”, in particular by building together but also by sharing their creations with their friends.
According to the latest news, the production of Maxis was in full development (so far from being finished). However, some players had the chance to playtest the famous EA project and invite up to 3 friends to share their experience and discover the many community functions of this fifth opus. Everything seemed to be going well until Project René was hacked… worse, that excerpts leak on the networks.
Project René a leak?
This is what the Twitter account seems to indicate @TheSims5_World, on the lookout for news about Project René. The owner of the account says he received various leaked extracts from EA productions on November 13 in his DMs… which he then published. More than a dozen videos follow one another and show previews of the future game The Sims 5: from the apartment to the music, passing by the city or even by the aesthetics of the buildings, almost all the details of the project are exposed. These leaks allow a total immersion in the atmosphere of Project René which, let us specify it once again, is still in development. What totally hyper the fans of the license and panic the teams of EA.
Who could be the mysterious hacker?
In early November, Insider Gaming/Jeff Grubb announced that Project René had been hacked. Due to a lack of encryption as well as a dated version of Unreal Engine, hackers could have accessed the game’s source codes without too much difficulty. Thus, they would have had fun there, doing as they pleased with the various creative tools of the game. The online gaming magazine has attempted to contact the hackers in question, asking them if they plan to leak the source codes of the Maxis production, but so far they have not had a response. Would these hackers have infiltrated the DMs of @TheSims5_World to reveal to them the videos of their hacking?
The track of the playtester also remains possible, it is quite possible that a player who had access to the production to test it recorded sequences of the latter without the authorization of EA to then reveal them. In any case, the teams of the company at the head of the license have not yet decided on the subject. One thing is certain, hackers risk a lot!
If there is one game that is desired by Sims players, it is the fifth installment of the license, which is slow to arrive. While EA hasn’t revealed any release date, what do we know about the game and what can we expect from The Sims 5?
After years and years of waiting, fans of The Sims license finally have something to eat, with the announcement of Project René at Sims Summit. The opportunity to discover an image and some intentions on this title not really about to come out.