No: EA has not confirmed that The Sims 5 will have an open world, or that a leaked map is its final design. The map claim came from unofficial images reportedly tied to an early Project Rene playtest and was covered in March 2024. The alleged city map and clues to open-world play were speculative; EA’s January 2026 description frames Project Rene as a separate, mobile-first social game, not the successor to The Sims 4.
What the alleged map showed
On March 29, 2024, Insider Gaming reported that images circulating online appeared to come from a Project Rene playtest build. The outlet described a rough, top-down map of a large city-style area with a river, alongside other in-game views said to correspond to the map.
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The images were attributed to a Reddit user credited as DzXAnt22. The user reportedly found reference images they believed suggested a Paris influence. That was an interpretation of the material, not confirmation that the game was set in Paris. A same-day Sims Community report described a few dozen district zones and an area marked as playable, reproducing the dataminer’s account and its playtest-build caveat. These are descriptions of leaked material, not verified specifications.
Why the leak was read as evidence of an open world
Reports pointed to two kinds of clues in the examined build: no travel icon or travel-related strings, and systems for asset streaming and level of detail. The argument was that these details might fit a world where players move around without conventional travel transitions.
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- Develop Parenting Skills – Level up your Sim’s parenting skills to satisfy their child’s needs and influence their behaviors. Gain new abilities through experience and choosing when to discipline bad actions, encourage good behavior, or just let kids be kids.
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That remains an inference. The absence of travel references in a particular build does not prove continuous open-world gameplay, and the reports did not establish how the alleged map would function in a finished game. Insider Gaming also said the build was more than a year old when it published the story in March 2024, leaving ample scope for the project or its systems to have changed.
What EA has said about Project Rene
EA’s January 9, 2026 statement on the future of The Sims describes Project Rene as having “evolved into a social, collaborative, mobile-first life-sim game.” EA also says it “is not the successor to The Sims 4” and is separate from any future deep, single-player life-simulation experience. The company says it remains committed to single-player PC and console experiences and continues to update The Sims 4.
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That distinction matters: the old map story was presented as a Project Rene leak and interpreted as a possible Sims 5 open-world clue. EA’s later description does not confirm that interpretation or announce a new single-player Sims title, its map, or a release date.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why playtest material is not a final design
EA notes that limited market tests and Sims Labs can surface early builds, prototypes, experimental features, concept imagery, and naming conventions, and that some concepts may never move forward. That makes an old test image useful as a glimpse of exploration, but insufficient to establish what a released game will contain.
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A September 2026 Sims Community article characterized earlier Rene materials as exploration and research rather than final game design. Its account of the project’s history, including the suggestion that it was once intended as The Sims 5, is outlet reporting based on developer materials and previous reports—not a formal EA confirmation in that article.
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What can—and cannot—be concluded
- Reported: Unofficial images allegedly from an early Project Rene playtest showed a rough city-style map with a river and district zones.
- Speculated: The dataminer’s Paris interpretation and the suggestion of open-world play were not confirmed by EA.
- Not established: The leak does not prove a final map, continuous open-world movement, a Paris setting, or a confirmed Sims 5 design.
- Current official framing: EA describes Project Rene as a mobile-first social experience distinct from both The Sims 4 and any future deep single-player life sim.
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