Today, EA announced a major shakeup that included the layoffs of 400 employees and the closure of BioWare . Sims fans were especially quick to share worries about their beloved EA-owned life-sim franchise, which has already been mired in confusion amid constant downgrades and rumors that The Sims 5 might never happen. On Wednesday, via an internal email shared with Kotaku , EA executives Cam Weber and David Tinson announced that work on an in-development game codenamed Project Lotus would be paused.

“In Lifestyle, we’re focusing on the long-term potential of The Sims and skate. We’re going to prioritize our efforts on ‘Project Evergreen’ for The Sims to give the team more time to reach the full potential and vision for the game, and to help make this possible, we’re pausing development on ‘Project Lotus.'”

Fans were quick to react, with some celebrating the death of the controversial installment, while others expressed concern for the longevity of the series under EA’s ownership.…