Electronic Arts (EA) appears to still be focused on its current life simulation game title, "The Sims 4," amid rumors that the game studio is already working on the next entry to "The Sims" franchise. Even though EA is quiet regarding the rumored development of "The Sims 5," it is believed that the game will be released very soon. In fact, the fifth installment of "The Sims" series could arrive as early as next year.

Even if The Sims 5 is currently in development, they are keeping details under wraps to protect any spoilers and leaks from emerging about the next title's gameplay.

Fans will likely have quite a wait to see the next installment of the gane, as EA has become well-known for taking its precious time in developing the "Sims" installments. The first "Sims" title was released in 2000, and the studio has had to continually think of new ideas to prevent the game's appeal from going stale.

After four years, in 2004, EA came up with "The Sims 2," then the studio bagged more success with "The Sims 3" in 2009, followed five years later by "The Sims 4" in 2014.

Considering that EA is taking around three to five years to introduce each new entry to "The Sims" series, it is speculated that "The Sims 5" will be finally announced sometime this year, and eventually make its launch to stores in 2019 - that is if the company does not meet any obstacles in the meantime.

Tthere is also a possibility that EA will not launch "The Sims 5" right away, especially now that "The Sims 4" is raking in more profits for the studio, thanks to its successful expansion and stuff pack releases.

In fact, it is reported that EA is focusing on working on more DLC packs to arrive for "The Sims 4" later this year, which will keep the company busy until early next year. If that is true, the company may be deciding to ride the wave of the current installment a bit longer before switching its focus to The Sims 5, in which case a late 2019 or even a 2020 release date might be more likely. Only time will tell.