A job listing posted by EA's Maxis Studios is aimed at hiring an experienced rendering engineer who will be tasked with improving the game engine used by The Sims. The candidate would be responsible for making a number of improvements to The Sims' graphics engine, hinting at potential future plans for the Maxis Studios' flagship franchise.
Maxis Studios is most well known for its long-running The Sims series of life simulators which has defined the genre since 2003. Maxis Studios is also recognizable for their hit SimCity series of city-builders along with Spore, which simulated life from the cellular stage into a galactic society. The Sims series is immensely popular thanks to its extensive customization and the depth in which it allows players to manage their sim's lives. Sims can take on hobbies, pursue careers, marry, age, and reproduce, which leads to emergent storytelling as the various inhabitants live out their lives.
The job listing posted by Maxis Studios suggests that Maxis intends to improve The Sims' engine both visually and in terms of performance. The position in question is for a Senior Rendering Engineer whose primary goal will be to modernize the graphics engine to improve performance and visual quality on more recent hardware. The position asks for a candidate with at least six years of professional programming experience and who has shipped at least one AAA title on multiple platforms. Experience working with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is needed, which suggests The Sims 4 getting overhauled for the newer consoles or the possibility of an eventual The Sims 5 release on consoles.
The Sims 4 has had an impressive eight-year run since launching in 2014 and continues to release new content, such as the upcoming High School Years expansion planned for July. The Sims 4 is beginning to show its age, however, after spending twice as long at the helm of The Sims franchise compared to previous entries. Despite this, Maxis Studios hasn't slowed down on development, having released dozens of expansion packs and game packs that brought many new features.
Maxis Studios looking to hire programmers for the purpose of modernizing The Sims' graphics engine is a great sign for the future of The Sims, as a modernized visual overhaul to The Sims 4 could go a long way toward revitalizing the aging life sim. This modernized engine would almost inevitably be part of The Sims 5's development process as well, so fans may finally see some hints of the next sequel in the future.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.