That's an old quote that has been discussed a lot on these forums. Since he is mentioning social interaction and competition he may have talked about what turned into the gallery challenges and spark'd for the sims4.
I hope that's how far they will go when it comes to multiplayer for the sims. I don't want that to be their priority. They should focus on improving the game in other areas. Multiplayer will just make everything so much more difficult to make. I do not want to trade away open world, color wheel and better performance for social interactions with other players.