Mysterious ‘Sims 4’ Competitor, ‘Vie,’ Promises More Details March 15

The Sims 4 has been the life simulation game of the past 17 years, but if this reddit page is any indication, EA and Maxis could have a new competitor. Vie claims to be a new life simulation game, boasting more intricate role-playing elements. Vie’s Twitter account has two tweets. The first announced the mysterious project back in September 2016. The second tweet, written yesterday, says to expect more information March 15.

UPDATE #2: Project Vie Unveils Sketchy Screenshots, Claims 2018 Release Date

UPDATE #1: ‘Project Vie’: Real Or Not? Banned ‘Sims 4’ Forum User Rumored Bullshitter

Vie’s reddit posts give us a little more insight into what the project is about, and how it will be different from The Sims. The Vie team posted “Five Wonderfully Meaningful Facts About Vie” along with the announcement.

• Vie is not only a life simulator, but also a role playing game. Which role, you ask? All of them!

• Our gameplay will be so good that you will actually wow out loud. Mark my words.

• Vie is similar to The Sims in some ways, but totally different in some other ways. You will end up doing the same thing in both games, but you'll have a much better time in Vie !

• Vie's target audience overlaps with The Sims, but Vie isn't for every The Sims player and The Sims isn't for every Vie player.

• This fifth wonderfully meaningful fact is completely meaningless!

Vie has had a presence on reddit for the last four months, posting cryptic messages and responding to Sims discussions. Vie responded to one submitted a month ago titled, “ Would you play a game competing with The Sims”, with “We hope so...;).”

In another thread talking about how The Sims is pretty much the only successful life simulation on the market, Vie posted, “¯_(ツ)_/¯” and said, “Brace yourself, it's going to be a while. You'll hear more early next year… but officially, you don't know that yet. Everything so far must've been a slip of the tongue… or an epiphany!”

Another was a direct shot at EA. In a thread discussing the mysterious project, reddit user LexicanLuthor wrote, “I AM SO EXCITED I COULD SCREAM. Take EA to the cleaners yo.”

“We'll give them something to be afraid of, don't worry ;),” the Vie team responded back.

While Vie admits to a target audience overlapping with The Sims, their reddit posts indicate there will be distinct differences.

“What's the point in making what is essentially the same game? We think you're going to love it. In fact, we're going to be paying close attention to the community to make sure!”

The person or persons posting as Project Vie on reddit admit to being Simmers themselves, and they sure seem to be following the forums looking for ideas to implement in their game in a way that EA hasn't.

“We're Simmers just like you, we know what's up with The Sims just like you. We're doing our best to make a fun game with the right style and gameplay, and we're doing our best to please as many people as we can. But that's all you'll hear from me for now…” the Vie team said in a post.

There’s no word on when the game will release, but the developers don’t seem to be in a rush.

“Keeping up with the Joneses isn't our top priority, and we don't think it should be either. We'd much rather be making a great game of our own, and release it when the time is there.”

It’s important to note the legitimacy of this project is still questionable, especially considering their Twitter bio is: “Everything subject to change. (That's pretty deep when you think about it.)”

What do you make of all this? Is Vie a real competitor? Let us know in the comments below! The Sims creator is also working on a new game called SimYou. Get the details here.