The Sims community already had plenty to track with The Sims 4 Marketplace and Maker Program changes reshaping how players and creators interact with the game. Now there is bigger news hitting the franchise from the top down: Electronic Arts has confirmed it is cancelling an unannounced Sims project, cutting roughly 400 jobs across the company, and restructuring the studio behind the Skate reboot into a smaller operation.
The announcement came through an internal memo from CEO David Tinson and CSO Cam Weber, later published publicly, that opened with a surprising amount of self-congratulation before delivering the cuts. "Today, we're the number one publisher in Western HD gaming," the pair wrote, before explaining that the industry is shifting fast and that EA needs to concentrate its resources.
What happened to The Sims
Here's the thing: EA is not walking away from The Sims franchise entirely. The company says it is doubling down on something internally called Project Evergreen, described as the team's main priority that needs more time to reach its "full potential and vision." To free up resources for that, EA is shelving a separate Sims-related title codenamed Project Lotus.
What Project Lotus actually was remains unclear since it was never publicly announced. The decision to cancel it is framed as a resource allocation call rather than a failure, but losing any unannounced Sims project is a notable contraction for Maxis, the studio behind the series. Players who have been following The Sims 4's recent updates and patch changes will know the live game is still receiving regular support, so Project Evergreen appears to be where that energy is now fully directed.
The Skate situation and the broader studio shakeup
The early access Skate reboot, developed by Full Circle, is apparently doing well enough that EA called it a success. That makes the decision to restructure the team into a "more focused, smaller team" a strange one to read. Success is not usually the reason studios shrink. The implication is that EA is trimming headcount across the board regardless of individual project performance.
The layoffs extend well beyond Skate. Around 400 roles are being cut company-wide, touching studios including Respawn, Maxis, Full Circle, and EA Motive. The closure of BioWare and the cancellation of Mass Effect 5 sit at the most dramatic end of those cuts, with roughly 50 BioWare jobs included in that 400 figure.
What EA is actually keeping and building
Not everything is being trimmed. Marvel's Iron Man and a third Star Wars Jedi game are both described as continuing without disruption. EA Sports remains untouched, with EA FC and other sports simulations still in active development. Two new projects are also coming: a revival of Fight Night and a social-first open-world American Football experience internally called Project Gridiron, both expected to be revealed within the next few months.
The memo also confirmed that Respawn and DICE are being brought together to collaborate on a future project. Given the timing and recent rumblings around a possible Star Wars: Battlefront follow-up, the connection is not hard to draw, though EA has not confirmed specifics.
The broader strategic shift is clear: fewer large simultaneous projects, more focus on franchises with proven audiences, and a leaner studio structure across the board. This follows EA being taken private earlier in 2026 as part of a roughly $55 billion acquisition led by a group of investment firms including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
What this means for players watching the Sims franchise
For anyone invested in The Sims, the short-term picture is that the main live game continues. Project Evergreen is still in development and appears to be the future EA is betting on for the franchise. Project Lotus is gone before most players even knew it existed.
The key here is watching what Project Evergreen turns out to be. If it is a next-generation Sims title meant to eventually replace The Sims 4, the cancellation of a secondary project makes some sense as a focus play. If it is something smaller, the loss of Project Lotus could represent a meaningful missed opportunity for the franchise.
For a full breakdown of where The Sims 4 currently stands with its live content and recent changes, the Sims 4 Marketplace update rundown covers what players need to know heading into this period of uncertainty.
