In all honesty, I think they're addressing the lore now because they realized how much many simmers want lore. I don't think TS4 was ever meant to be a part of the original timeline and when they realized many people wanted lore, they said it was an alternate timeline.
With this new "alternate timeline," that is TS4, where will that leave Project Rene/Sims 5? Will they double down on this lore, or will they completely forget TS4's timeline, and make TS5 continue the original? And also, why now after nearly a decade? Is it a hint at a lore overhaul? So many questions and very few answers.
