{"id":180052,"date":"2025-04-10T08:26:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/advertising\/for-25-years-the-sims-has-delivered-amusement-distraction-and-a-sense-of-security\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T08:26:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T08:26:33","slug":"for-25-years-the-sims-has-delivered-amusement-distraction-and-a-sense-of-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052","title":{"rendered":"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Last year, the Pew Research Center<\/a> conducted a survey to get to the bottom of a complicated question: why do young people play video games<\/a>? Gamers (85% of whom are in their teens) responded with three main reasons: 98% said they play for fun, 72% seek out social interaction, and 66% enjoy the competitive element.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another compelling aspect to gameplay that, for some players at least, is more important than those things. It\u2019s a refuge\u2014a game\u2019s ability to be a safe harbor, to furnish a sense of security and safety in an otherwise bewildering \u201creal\u201d world. It\u2019s unlikely that a gamer can find this kind of solace in, say, Grand Theft Auto or Mortal Kombat.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s in ample supply in The Sims.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\"\"
<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

The groundbreaking video game is marking its 25th<\/sup> birthday this year. A quarter century is a long time for any consumer product, let alone a digital one. And though The Sims has drawn millions of fans for its quirkiness (you can raise rabbits!) and its perils (the rabbits can kill you!), its most cherished perk may be its least heralded. The Sims accepts you\u2014or any version of you\u2014just as you are.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn The Sims, every moment is an opportunity to redefine life on your own terms\u2014there is no judgment,\u201d said Lyndsay Pearson, VP of franchise creative for Maxis Studios, the Electronic Arts<\/a> division that makes The Sims. \u201cThis idea has appealed to generations of gamers and maybe even more so now when we are afraid or feel out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u201cYou can create your sim to look like what you want,\u201d said psychologist Jamie Madigan.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

An unlikely hit<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For the uninitiated, the Sims was a pioneer of what\u2019s become known as a sandbox game. There is no predetermined objective, no rules, and no story arc. Simmers (as Sims players are known) develop their own player with whatever attributes they like and then they do whatever they want.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can redecorate your house, take your Sim on an adventure you can\u2019t do in real life yet, try on a new personality or style, live somewhere new,\u201d Pearson said. \u201cPlayers can experiment and express themselves in ways that they can\u2019t find in other games or entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s more revolutionary than it sounds. When The Sims debuted 25 years ago, it dispensed with a protocol that had existed since Atari\u2019s Pong<\/a> opened millions of Americans to digital gameplay in 1972. Video games had always been linear, with set rules, and ways to win. Sims creator Will Wright had a different idea\u2014allowing players to cook up their own experience.<\/p>\n

And his bosses hated it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA game about taking out the trash and cleaning out your bathroom\u2026 just doesn\u2019t sound very interesting,\u201d Wright said in a 2020 interview with GamesRadar+, \u201ccompared to saving the world or flying a jet fighter.\u201d With little support from management, Wright worked on The Sims on the side and, when the game finally debuted, few expected it to find an audience.<\/p>\n

But it did. To date, The Sims has sold over 200 million copies, and, last year alone, players spent 1.2 billion hours inside The Sims 4, its latest version.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, gamers liked the autonomy and the creativity. And in some cases, what they appreciated most was the privacy.<\/p>\n

Creating a version of you<\/h4>\n

\u201cI think the main reason [for The Sims\u2019 endurance] is that it provides an outlet for expression for people,\u201d said Jamie Madigan, a psychologist who\u2019s studied<\/a> video games and authored several books about their impact. \u201cYou can create your Sim to look like what you want\u2014an idealized version of you or somebody else completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

And since a gamer won\u2019t encounter any other players in the game unless they choose to, The Sims allows the freedom for players to express themselves without fear of being recognized, judged, or harmed.<\/p>\n

That freedom from provocation applies to the word both outside and inside the actual game. In the Pew survey<\/a> from last year, 41% of respondents said they\u2019d been called an offensive name by a fellow gamer while playing, and 12% reported having been physically threatened. The vast majority\u201480%\u2014said that bullying in a video-game environment is a problem.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise, then, that a portion of Sims fans are members of socially marginalized populations, in particular the LGBTQ+<\/a> community.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating your own player is a massive part of the experience,\u201d said Dustin Hansen, author of Game On!<\/a>, a definitive history of video games. \u201cYou can start in one gender. You can transition to another. And the reason that is so important is that a lot of [Sims] players don\u2019t have a safe space to completely communicate that to themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coding for inclusivity<\/h4>\n

Christine Brownell is a game designer who worked for EA in 2013, as The Sims 4 neared its final stages of development. According to her, the game\u2019s embrace of vulnerable communities isn\u2019t an inadvertent benefit; it was part of the planning for the game\u2019s inaugural edition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team recognized early on that they had a decision to make with the Sim relationship system,\u201d Brownell said. \u201cIf they restricted the types of relationships that Sims could have, they would be excluding LGBTQ+ players that would want to tell stories about themselves in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inclusivity was important 25 years ago, of course, but the polarization of the country in 2025 makes the virtual world inside the game especially valuable now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of what is happening in politics these days, so many people are looking for reassurance that these intolerant\u00a0views aren\u2019t how the majority of people feel,\u201d Brownell said. \u201cWhen the president, the media, and many large corporations are denouncing<\/a> and casually backing away from DEI<\/a> initiatives,\u00a0it can really seem like we are moving backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sims, Hansen added, is \u201cliterally an exploration\u201d of self, allowing gamers to choose not just what they look like, but who they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like playing Call of Duty,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey to get to the bottom of a complicated question: why do young people play video games? Gamers (85% of whom are in their teens) responded with three main reasons: 98% said they play for fun, 72% seek out social interaction, and 66% enjoy the competitive element. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":180053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12023],"tags":[35600,13829,35015,24621,1305,14176,2764,1533,19315,1003],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-180052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","tag-amusement","tag-brands","tag-delivered","tag-distraction","tag-exclusive","tag-gaming-news","tag-security","tag-sense","tag-sims","tag-years"],"yoast_head":"\nFor 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey to get to the bottom of a complicated question: why do young people play video games? Gamers (85% of whom are in their teens) responded with three main reasons: 98% said they play for fun, 72% seek out social interaction, and 66% enjoy the competitive element. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\"},\"wordCount\":1017,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Amusement\",\"Brands\",\"Delivered\",\"Distraction\",\"EXCLUSIVE\",\"gaming news\",\"Security\",\"Sense\",\"Sims\",\"Years\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Advertising\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\",\"name\":\"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":315},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052","next":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052&page=2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey to get to the bottom of a complicated question: why do young people play video games? Gamers (85% of whom are in their teens) responded with three main reasons: 98% said they play for fun, 72% seek out social interaction, and 66% enjoy the competitive element. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":315,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security","datePublished":"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052"},"wordCount":1017,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg","keywords":["Amusement","Brands","Delivered","Distraction","EXCLUSIVE","gaming news","Security","Sense","Sims","Years"],"articleSection":["Advertising"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052","name":"For 25 Years, The Sims Has Delivered Amusement, Distraction, and a Sense of Security - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-10T08:26:33+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=180052#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/sims-1-2025.jpg","width":600,"height":315},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=180052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/180053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=180052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=180052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=180052"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=180052"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=180052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}