'The Sims 5' could include include multiplayer options.

The life simulation video game franchise is due to release its fifth installment t some point in the next couple of years and now bosses have revealed that they are looking at giving players the option to play together for the first time.

Speaking on the Radio Times' 'One More Life' podcast, VP Lyndsay Pearson said: "Not multiplayer in the big, scary 'jump in a world full of strangers' kind of way.

"[But] literally: how do you and your friends want to do some play together? And there's a lot of different flavours that could take, so we're exploring a lot of different spaces there. Because playing together can look like so many different things."

The gaming boss went on to add that she and the team are having "a lot of fun" exploring new opportunities for the game but insisted that the core concept of the game is still there more than 20 years after its initial launch.

She said: "We’re having a lot of fun exploring all those different opportunities, particularly within the context of The Sims, because it is still about these little characters, their little lives and you helping guide them. So what does that mean if you and I do that together? How do we figure out how to make a little bit of that chaos, a little bit of that fun and a little bit of that positivity come together in a way that feels 'Sims-y?

"We talk about Animal Crossing all the time, because it is such a good example of my little space, my little island, but I can invite you over!"