The Sims Just Canceled a New Game, And I’m Shocked But Not Surprised
The Sims has seen its fair share of strange development turns over the decades. Projects evolve, spin-offs shift direction, and early concepts have morphed into something completely different before release. However, outright cancellations are relatively rare for the franchise. This time, a project has disappeared before even the most loyal of Simmers realized it existed.
The Sims has canceled a mobile spin-off titled The Sims: Town Stories. The mobile spin-off was never widely advertised or even discussed in the community, so players are likely only hearing about it now that it has been scrapped. While the cancellation might seem sudden, it also feels like a predictable, unfortunate casualty of The Sims‘ current focus.
A Sims Game is Shutting Down on January 20
Electronic Arts shares some bad news with The Sims fans, and gamers should prepare to deal with an unfortunate upcoming change.
What Was the Now-Canceled The Sims: Town Stories?
The Sims: Town Stories hosted a couple of public playtests in the Philippines, Australia, and South Africa in November 2025. People could access the game through their devices’ app store as long as they lived in one of those countries. However, the project did not take long to face disaster. On March 13, 2026, a LinkedIn post from a former Narrative Designer at EA/Maxis, Franci Dimitrovska, confirmed that the project had sunsetted.
The Sims: Town Stories was first leaked online in October 2024. Town Stories was a free-to-play and single-player iOS and Android game piloted by The Sims Labs, Maxis’ learning laboratory for all existing and future products. The game set players as the newest residents of Plumbrook—a picturesque small town away from the hustle and bustle of “the big city.” Players would have to craft their way into their perfect town by collecting resources, progressing relationships, and accomplishing goals.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
The art style was a bit more cartoonish than a typical Sims game. When compared to The Sims 4‘s art style, it was more similar to a spin-off like MySims. However, many people have noted that the art style would place it in direct comparison to similar mobile games like Lilly’s Garden or Gardenscapes.
The Sims: Town Stories Features
Town Stories was a spin-off. However, it had many features similar to The Sims and MySims:
- Mostly returning faces: Only six Sims had been revealed in marketing materials and official art. Five out of six of them were returning faces across The Sims franchise: Bella Goth (The Sims), Ms. Nicole (MySims), Torajiro (MySims Kingdom), Nancy Landgraab (The Sims 3), and Bob Pancakes (The Sims 4). The only new character was Gizmo Cogspin.
- An open world: To the chagrin of Sims 3 fans, this spin-off featured the first open world in the Sims since 2009.
- Building a dream town: Much like Stardew Valley’s story, players had to improve Plumbrook from the ground up. With enough resources and relationships, players would have been able to decorate their homes, customize their blocks and towns, and improve the overall community.
-
Narrative quests: There were two main ways to progress in Town Stories.
- One of them was through the player character’s career and lifelong goals.
- The other was through uncovering residents’ stories and earning their trust.
The Sims’ New Game Cancellation May Be Shocking, But Not Surprising
As a longtime Simmer myself, any hazy direction or rare cancellation is sad. Even if The Sims: Town Stories was never widely revealed or launched, it still represented an experiment with the franchise that could have grown into something beloved by certain fans. The concept may not have been the franchise’s most revolutionary, but it was certainly a natural extension of the series’ cozy life-sim appeal.
At the same time, the writing might have been on the plumbob concerning The Sims: Town Stories’ fate. EA has centered the franchise’s future on Project Rene, the next major Sims initiative that has gradually shifted away from its early concepts as The Sims 5. Now, Project Rene is something closer to a mobile-focused experience rather than a traditional mainline entry. With that shift in mind, it makes sense that side projects like Town Stories might quietly disappear. Consolidating development resources when a new flagship project enters a critical stage is common. And Project Rene appears to be that focal point for The Sims right now.