The Sims 5 Leak Reveals the Game’s Map

The Sims 5‘s map has seemingly been leaked online. Codenamed Project Rene, Maxis’ next entry in its beloved series of charming life simulators was first revealed to the public in October 2022 at the Beyond The Sims Summit event.

Since it was announced, both Maxis and longtime The Sims series publisher Electronic Arts have disclosed shreds of information regarding the franchise’s next installment, but little is still officially known about the game. Playtests that have been held since at least the fall of 2022 have provided glimpses of this project that has been dubbed The Sims 5, with a recent one apparently giving players access to a small part of the game’s in-development map.

The Sims 5 Leaked Map Location

In a Reddit post, user DzXAnt22 showed off what they claimed were leaks of The Sims 5‘s unfinished map. The shared images of a town and its roads were supposedly datamined from a playtest build of The Sims 5 that was leaked recently. DzXAnt22 claimed that the images were from an early build of Project Rene that was meant to be a tech demo for the upcoming title’s building functionality. The areas featured in the leak only represent a small part of a much bigger map that was likely based on Paris, as the layouts of the locations match those of France’s historic capital city, DzXAnt22 explained.

The Reddit user also speculated that The Sims 5 could be an open-world game since the playtest build ran well on a smartphone even with the title fully zoomed out. Additionally, there were no UI elements for a travel mechanic, nor were there any string references for traveling to other locations, according to DzXAnt22. The Sims 4 did not have an open world, but its predecessor, The Sims 3, did.

While Maxis confirmed in the past that The Sims 5 will have multiplayer, it will not play like an MMO. Around the time Project Rene was announced, the development team said in a blog post that the game would give players the choice to play solo or collaborate with others. Project Rene will also introduce fundamental evolutions with how players create and customize their worlds, as well as with how the games’ eponymous Sims characters behave.

The Sims 5 still has no release date for its intended platforms, but it was confirmed in a January 2024 developer update that the game is still years away from launch. Leaks of the game have already stirred up controversy surrounding Project Rene‘s art style, as some claimed the upcoming title has taken the series’ cartoonish aesthetic to the extreme.

The Sims

EA’s life simulation franchise The Sims began in the year 2000 with a game of the same name that was, at one point, the highest-selling PC game of all time. 

The main series games let players build a home, create a handful of characters, and then guide them through their relationships, careers, and goals.