https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TwK1PY5xKI
Not surprising given its EA. Makes sense, they're going Live Service. Make it more multiplayer focused like Sims 4 originally was as Project Olympus AKA Sims Online 2. But whatever this is why Paralives is here. Just as City Skylines, Planet Coaster, and Planet Zoo saved us from the greed of Atari, EA, and Microsoft.
While we can just says its a rumor. Remember this is EA. Look at the other games they've ruined over the years. Poor Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Madden, FIFA, Command & Conquer, and SimCity for example.
So while we can say rumor, I'll go with its confirmed given the history of the publisher.