Let's see.
- Made for both PC, the xbox series X and the PS5, they are not released yet so we do not know exactly what their games will be like, it does not look we are seeing a huge leap in graphics but we are seeing improvements when it comes to performance, the PS5 will for example use SSD's to make games be able to load assets (models, textures etc.) much faster. This means that the PC requirements will probably go up if they want their PC version to look and run as good as their console version, but not too much.
- This could also lead to that we might see larger neighborhoods or open worlds. Maybe even create a style since if they are able to make a good engine that can handle it, textures should be loading much faster.
- I think that we will see online features for the sims5, we will either have an online separate module with microtransactions and events and a single player module where they will sell you packs, or they will find a way to implement both. If they will do that I suspect that you will be the one who will host your world on your PC and players will be able to connect to it if you want. DLC will be less content because they will expect you to use it during their online events.
- I think that Mod support will still be a thing, you will probably still be able to mod your game as long as it stays offline.
- I think that they will either rework the emotion system or drop it entirely for the sims5 and they will use some other method for sims to react to different situations.
- I don't think that we will see create a world make a return, it sounds too complicated and could also prevent them from selling packs...
- I think the base game will have more features at launch, moving babies, pools etc.
- I think that since the game will have an upgrade when it comes to performance and graphics that the sims will look much better, with higher resolution textures I think that they will go for something less cartoony.
- Something that seems to be common these days are that they build games to market other games or franchises, I think that we will probably see more content like the Star Wars pack but they will be hosted like events. This is what they are doing in Fortnite for example.
Those are my predictions, better performance, online, packs and microtransactions, still possible to play offline, single player content will probably be the same, maybe even less because they will make online content as well. Hopefully they will not go the online route but it feels like all other games are going that way right now.
