EA Cancels The Sims Town Stories, Shocking Fans With Surprise Announcement

The cancellation of The Sims: Town Stories came not from a corporate press release but from a farewell post written by one of the people who built it. A former EA Narrative Designer, who had spent more than two and a half years on the spin-off smartphone title, announced the project's death with a single Simlish word: "Dag dag."

"'Dag dag' is Simlish for goodbye! Our project at The Sims has been cancelled and I am looking for new work in game design, narrative design, or puzzle design," she wrote. "It was a phenomenal experience and a wonderful 6 years at EA. The folks I've worked with are immensely talented and I'm a lucky, lucky girl to have been parts of these teams. I will miss my EA gang tremendously."

The designer, whose name has not been publicly confirmed in available reporting, had previously worked on other smartphone projects before joining Town Stories. Her portfolio corroborated her involvement with the cancelled title across those two and a half years of development. EA has not issued a formal statement about the cancellation, and no details about resource reallocation have been provided.

The news landed as a shock to the community, arriving with no warning from EA or Maxis. Town Stories had been one of the franchise's quietly developed mobile projects, and its sudden end raises questions about where EA's Sims priorities now sit.

The broader picture offers some clues, though none are confirmed. The Sims Project Rene, believed to be a multiplayer mode or spin-off, is reportedly being developed "feverishly" according to EA Entertainment President Laura Miele, who told Variety that The Sims represents one of the "biggest growth opportunities for Electronic Arts." EA's 2026 roadmap shifted Project Rene toward a mobile-only focus, which has led some observers to speculate that Town Stories' development may have been absorbed or displaced by that singular product push. SimsCommunity, which first broke the story, has been explicit that this connection remains speculation.

The Sims 5 cancellation in 2024 provides additional context for the franchise's turbulent recent trajectory. At the time, EA framed that decision as player-friendly, arguing that wiping family progress and DLC purchases for a new title would have done more harm than good. Miele has since reinforced that position, describing a hypothetical Sims 5 as not "player friendly." Meanwhile, The Sims 4 is being repositioned as a cosy "ecosystem" for the community, with continued expansion packs and new modes planned going forward.

SimsCommunity also flagged the possibility that a broader EA acquisition and community reception to Town Stories may have contributed to its fate, though again, no confirmed documentation supports either explanation.

What remains is the designer's own words: six years at EA, two and a half of them building something that will never ship, and a gracious goodbye written in the language of the very franchise she helped work on.