Development of Sims 5 has been canceled according to leaks

The development of Sims 5 was first officially presented at the "Behind the Sims" summit. Under the project name "Rene" - an allusion to the Renaissance and renewal - the first gameplay elements were shown, including detailed interiors and interaction options. The Maxis team, which has also worked on previous parts of the series, was responsible for the development. The latest Sims offshoot was to be published by EA.

The Sims 5 was planned for both PC and mobile devices and was to be released as a free-to-play title, with the basic game being free but with numerous paid DLCs being added. However, it seems that nothing will come of this.
On Imgur several screenshots have recently surfaced. One of them is an excerpt from the CV of a Maxis developer, which shows that the development of Sims 5 has been discontinued.

The first screenshot shows a list of games that the developer has worked on. At the top is Sims 5 with the note "Cancelled". According to other screenshots, which appear to be job descriptions, the Senior Game Designer has shifted his efforts to Sims 4 and the Lead Character Artist has left his position altogether. This leads to the assumption that fans will never get to see Sims 5. There has been no official statement from EA or Maxis to date.

Interestingly, Paradox Interactive also recently discontinued the development of its rival product "Life by You". The game was announced in March 2023, but development has since been halted. The reason given by the developers was a "clear failure" to meet both their own requirements and the expectations of the community.