The Sims franchise is going to get a new, flashy coat of paint for the foreseeable future.
According to GameRant, there's been a job listing from Maxis Studios (an EA-owned subsidiary) that's apparently looking for a senior rendering engineer. And the job listing, as per the report, seems to be very clear that the rendering engineer's job is to modernize the graphics engine in The Sims.
A lot of Maxis branches are looking for someone to fill the position, as per EA.com. If anybody out there has considerable experience as a rendering engineer, you can go apply for in-site employment in Vancouver-Still Creek, Canada, Austin, Orland, Redwood City, and Seattle in the United States, and numerous offsite opportunities in Arizonal, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Southern California, and Utah.
It was not made clear how EA and Maxis plans to modernize The Sims' graphics engine, exactly. Perhaps they want it to look more "next-gen" with the current crop of consoles. That means the overall graphical quality will be overhauled, including its resolution and performance to target current hardware capabilities.
However, doing so is obviously not something that a candidate with little experience can handle. As such, Maxis and EA made it clear that they want somebody with at least 6 years of professional programming under their belt, and one who has already helped ship at least one AAA title on several platform.
Aside from that, the studio is also requiring that candidates have experience working with next-gen and last-gen hardware. That means PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, as well as PS4 and Xbox One (via the Electronic Arts online career portal).
The Sims is ripe for a return considering the last game in the franchise, The Sims 4, launched way back in 2014. Even if the game has been releasing a constant slew of new content, it's been eight years since the game first released. It's time for something new.
Read also: 'The Sims 4: City Living' Uptown District Guide
Will The New Hire Be Working On The Sims 5?
Since The Sims 5 has been more or less officially confirmed by Electronic Arts Chief Studio Officer Laura Miele (via a VentureBeat interview), this now begs the question whether the new Maxis hire will be working on the sequel.
It's not made clear whether or not that's true. But one thing that EA said about the popular simulation franchise is this: they will not make a sequel until they've achieved "great success" with the current game (The Sims 4), writes GamesRadar. Well, if $462 million in annual revenue during the last financial year isn't considered a success by the company, then we don't know what else.
Now, onto The Sims 5. What could it have? Back in 2020, The Sims fansite SimsCommunity.info mentioned how EA CEO Andrew Wilson has mentioned how a next-gen Sims game will have single-player and multiplayer elements. He revealed these details in a 3Q FY2020 earnings call with investors. Here's an audio of Wilson's call, uploaded by the SimsCommunity on YouTube:
Other than that, no other details were shared.
Related: The Sims 4 Finally Gives Players The Option To Choose Pronouns
