This week Electronic Arts (EA) announced that as a part of its Brilliant Backyards update for The Sims FreePlay, the mobile life simulation game is getting augmented reality (AR) support.
The AR mode is only compatible with iOS ARKit devices running iOS 12 or higher and requires an A9 processor or better. There’s a full list of compatible phones and tablets at the end of the announcement blog post here.
As you can see in the trailer above, the new AR functionality is actually pretty impressive. Using your device’s camera, you can get up super close to your Sims and houses, go inside, outside, and zoom in and out to you heart’s content.
However, it’s very much an experimental mode for the game. When in AR, your Sims are considered to be in a different version of the game essentially. This means items used in AR cannot be taken back to the normal game and you can’t collect resources in AR. There’s no XP gain or Quest progression in AR either. It’s more of a showpiece than anything.
There is multiplayer support though and being able to build a new lot in AR is certainly a cool feature that few free-to-play mobile games have dabbled with. To enable AR mode on a compatible iOS device, visit the town map screen for a new green button icon. For more details on building lots and doing AR multiplayer, check out the full blog post.
Let us know what you think of the news down in the comments below!
