For the past 17 years, the life simulator game to own was "The Sims." Whether you found it during its first, second, third or fourth version, you knew it was the best the simulation industry had to offer.

Ridiculously warped humor, coupled with charming graphics and interesting gameplay, made "The Sims" a winner come every release time. For the past 17 years, no game has been considered a serious competitor for "The Sims," but project "Vie" apparently plans to change all that.

Two Announcements, Already Causing A Stir

It may seem like "Vie" has come out of nowhere, but the mysterious project actually announced itself last September 2016 via a tweet. Admittedly, the tweet merely said "1,2,3, check..." but it was enough for people to take notice. It's most recent tweet appeared on their Twitter last February 8 gave more substantial news, saying "Learn more March 15th...!" with the hashtag, #VieIsComing.

What Is Vie?

On their Reddit page, "Vie" posted "Five Wonderfully Meaningful Facts About Vie." While not as detailed as one would hope, it gave readers a little more insight into what to expect with project "Vie." First off, "Vie" is apparently "not only a life simulator," but a Role-Playing game as well. "Which role, you ask? All of them!"

Second, the gameplay is evidently very good, although no picture, screenshot, or teaser clip accompanied this. The third, and perhaps most important bit, is that "Vie" is "similar to 'The Sims' in some ways, but totally different in other ways." It seems that "Vie" is set to challenge "The Sims" on their own turf without being a complete carbon copy of the other.

Same Feel, Different Game

"Vie" has in fact been responding to some questions on their Reddit regarding potential similarities. "What's the point in making what is essentially the same game?" They ask. "We think you're going to love it. In fact, we're going to be paying close attention to the community to make sure."

This may be a potential advantage for "Vie," as they seem dead-set on taking player input seriously. While "The Sims" seems pretty perfect, there are admittedly a lot of things missing from it, as well as a lot of issues. It takes a while for EA to respond to complaints, and the latest installment, "Sims 4," has been receiving expansion packs at a snails' pace as of late.

If "Vie" is the kind of competition EA needs to kick "The Sims 4" up a notch, you won't find any players complaining.