A job offer published by Maxi’s Studios of EA aims to hire an experienced rendering engineer who will be in charge of improving the game engine used by The Sims. The candidate would be in charge of making a series of improvements in the graphics engine of The Simshinting at possible future plans for Maxis Studios’ flagship franchise.
Maxis Studios is best known for its long-running series of life simulators, The Simswhich has defined the genre since 2003. Maxis Studios is also recognizable for its successful SimCity city-building series along with Spore, which simulated life from the cellular arena to a galactic society.
The Sims series is immensely popular thanks to its extensive customization and the depth with which it allows players to manage the lives of their sims. The Sims they can have hobbies, pursue careers, marry, age, and reproduce, giving rise to an emerging narrative as the various inhabitants go about their lives.
The job listing published by Maxis Studios suggests that Maxis intends to improve the The Sims both visually and in terms of performance. The position in question is for a Senior Render Engineer whose main objective will be to modernize the graphics engine to improve performance and visual quality on newer hardware.
The position asks for a candidate with at least six years of professional programming experience and who has released at least one AAA title on multiple platforms. Experience working with PS5 and Xbox Series X|S is required, suggesting that The Sims 4 will be revised for the new consoles or the possibility of an eventual release of The Sims 5 on consoles.
The Sims 4 has had an impressive eight-year run since its launch in 2014 and continues to release new content, such as the upcoming expansion High School Years due out in July. However, The Sims 4 is starting to show its age, having spent twice as much time at the helm of The Sims franchise compared to previous entries.
Despite this, Maxis Studios has not slowed down development, having released dozens of expansion packs and game packs that have brought many new features.
The fact that Maxis Studios is looking to hire programmers to revamp The Sims’ game engine bodes well for the future of The Sims, as a revamped visual overhaul of The Sims 4 could go a long way toward reinvigorating the aging life-sim. .
This revamped engine would also almost inevitably form a part of The Sims 5 development process, so fans might finally see some hints of the next sequel in the future.