What Is The Sims Labs? How to Sign up & Current Playtest Projects

We got a huge burst of news about the future of The Sims franchise, including some big announcements. One major development for The Sims is something called The Sims Labs, which players can sign up for.

What Is The Sims Labs?

According to EA, The Sims Labs is an endeavor to “explore new experimental ways to play The Sims.” Essentially, this is a general label for new Sims products, systems, and features in the testing phase. The Sims Labs projects include new features for existing games like The Sims 4, plus entirely new projects like Rene.

The Sims Labs is also where players are invited to join playtests to try out these new features early and provide feedback.

How to Sign up to Playtest in The Sims Labs

As part of new projects under The Sims Labs label, EA is looking for play testers. You can sign up to playtest for The Sims and other EA titles through the Electronic Arts Playtesting portal.

To sign up, you’ll need to log in to your EA account. Then, you will answer a series of questions about your gaming interests and experience. This includes the systems you currently use for gaming and whether you’re interested in in-person and multiplayer playtests.

Signing up for Electronic Arts playtesting doesn’t guarantee you’ll be selected to test, however. But filling out the survey puts your information in the system so that EA can reach out if they’re testing something that aligns with your interests and availability.

Keep in mind, you’ll likely sign an NDA as part of this process. In other words, you won’t be able to share all those Sims secrets with the world.

Current and Upcoming Playtests for The Sims Labs

Although The Sims Labs is pretty vague at this point, we do know there’s at least one clear project on the playtesting docket. The mysterious Project Rene is getting ready for another round of playtests in Fall 2024.

This upcoming playtest will involve the multiplayer experience in Project Rene, which EA says includes joining up with other players at a shared location. Is this in-game or IRL? Unclear, but selected playtesters will soon find out.

We also know that additional tests on future enhancements to The Sims 4 will also be a part of upcoming playtests for The Sims Labs. If you’re a Sims fan who wants to help shape the future of the game—and get some early sneak peeks—you may want to throw your Plumbob in the playtesting ring.