{"id":68875,"date":"2025-02-05T02:58:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T02:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/the-sims-turned-mere-mortals-into-gods-twenty-five-years-later-the-addictive-computer-game-is-still-going-strong\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T02:58:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T02:58:16","slug":"the-sims-turned-mere-mortals-into-gods-twenty-five-years-later-the-addictive-computer-game-is-still-going-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=68875","title":{"rendered":"‘The Sims’ Turned Mere Mortals Into Gods. Twenty-Five Years Later, the Addictive Computer Game Is Still Going Strong"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A view of “The Sims 4” during the EA press conference for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 9, 2014, in Los Angeles, California
\n Dan R. Krauss \/ Getty Images<\/span>
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When \u201cThe Sims\u201d first hit shelves on February 4, 2000, the video game market was mostly populated by action titles like \u201cSoulcalibur,\u201d \u201cThe Legend of Zelda\u201d and \u201cTomb Raider.\u201d In these games, players had to fight their way past villains to complete missions and then finish the game itself.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Sims,\u201d though, players merely had to create virtual people, build their homes and manage their needs and dreams. They\u2019d take them through different neighborhoods to meet other characters, help them achieve their ambitions, tackle their careers, guide them through friendships and relationships, and deal with tragedies.<\/p>\n

Before its release, even the people at Electronic Arts (EA), the publisher behind \u201cThe Sims,\u201d saw it as a risk, says David E. Dunning, a history of science curator at the National Museum of American History: \u201c\u2018The Sims\u2019 was unusual in that it didn\u2019t give the player set goals with a clear way to \u2018win.\u2019\u201d Instead, the open-ended style of play<\/a> encouraged and rewarded the creativity of its players. There wasn\u2019t a specific conclusion to work to. They could play it for as long as they wanted. The museum has in its collections a retail copy<\/a> of the groundbreaking game.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018The Sims\u2019 is known as a sandbox game<\/a>,\u201d which allows freedom for its users, explains Dunning. Its creator, Will Wright, had previously had success with \u201cSimCity,<\/a>\u201d a city planning game that was released in 1989, which saw players building their own cities by developing industrial and residential areas. \u201cThe Sims\u201d was much different, though, as players controlled people and their actions, rather than the construction and infrastructure of cities. \u201cThe idea of a daily life sandbox game was new,\u201d says Dunning. Just before it was released, Wright \u201cpredicted that the game would either be a complete flop or complete success and nothing in-between,\u201d says Jesse McNamara, a \u201cSims\u201d YouTuber from Middlesbrough, England, whose channel \u201cPlumbella<\/a>\u201d has over 790,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n

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Players try out the new “The Sims 2: Nightlife” game at a computer gaming convention on August 18, 2005, in Leipzig, Germany<\/p>\n

Andreas Rentz \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Sims\u201d was an instant hit among critics<\/a> and gamers alike\u2014not just in America, but around the world. Over the next few years it became the best<\/a>-selling PC game series of all time. For Deligracy<\/a>\u2014a \u201cSims\u201d YouTuber based in Melbourne, Australia, with over 1.2 million subscribers who asked to be referred to by her channel name\u2014the universality of the game and its cartoonish aesthetic mixed with adult themes meant it appealed to a huge audience. The titular \u201cSims\u201d speak their own invented language, Simlish, she notes. \u201cSo many games are targeted toward very specific audiences,\u201d she says in an email. \u201cBut \u2018The Sims\u2019 is appealing to children and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the release of the original installment, \u201cThe Sims\u201d has been followed by three main-series games, as well as dozens upon dozens of expansion packs and spin-offs.<\/a> By 2019, \u201cThe Sims,\u201d one of the best-selling video game franchises in history, had generated over $5 billion<\/a> in sales. EA still reportedly makes $420 million<\/a> a year, in part because of \u201cthe continued popularity of \u201cThe Sims 4,\u201d even though the game was released back in 2014.<\/p>\n

No wonder, then, that EA recently announced that it was rereleasing<\/a> \u201cThe Sims\u201d and \u201cThe Sims 2\u201d on PC to mark the series\u2019 25th anniversary.<\/p>\n

For many fans, the core of the game\u2019s appeal is storytelling and the fun of building and creating. Deligracy got hooked on \u201cThe Sims\u201d because she saw it as an extension of writing a story. \u201cBut instead of writing, I would \u2018play out\u2019 my stories. I loved escaping reality and stepping into my own, controlled life simulation.\u201d The game provided McNamara a chance to push \u201cthe boundaries of societal norms\u201d by acting out \u201csome of the most bizarre storytellings\u201d she could think of. If players wanted to build a family that consisted of a husband, wife and their two children, they could. At the same time, they could watch a character die of hunger or be set on fire, and then decide that was a success, too.<\/p>\n

But while the open-ended structure, unique characters and quirky humor of \u201cThe Sims\u201d initially attracted players to the game, Deligracy believes its \u201cwarmth and familiarity that is so different to other games\u201d made them return to it again and again. \u201cIt\u2019s become a cozy space or new dimension to escape to. \u2026 There is no other life simulation game that has the same amount of depth as \u2018The Sims.\u2019 As far as sandbox games go, it\u2019s an enormous and joyful sandpit to play in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Former Electronic Arts executive Rod Humble introduces the new game, “The Sims 3,” at an EA press briefing ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 14, 2010, in Los Angeles, California<\/p>\n

Michal Czerwonka \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maxis, the developer behind \u201cThe Sims,\u201d has repeatedly piqued the interest of players by steadily releasing expansion packs<\/a> in the 25 years since the first game was released. This additional content offered for purchase enlarges the base game and offers different clothes, hairstyles, items and worlds for people to explore. While the likes of \u201cHalf-Life<\/a>,\u201d \u201cXanadu<\/a>\u201d and \u201cPopulous<\/a>\u201d had used expansion packs before, \u201c\u2018The Sims\u2019 took it to a new level,\u201d says Dunning, \u201creleasing seven<\/a> expansion packs for the first game. There are currently 17<\/a> expansion packs available for \u2018The Sims 4.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not been entirely smooth sailing for the franchise, though. When \u201cThe Sims 4\u201d was released in 2014, fans and critics alike initially had a lukewarm<\/a> response. They believed its gameplay was sluggish, its characters felt too similar, and it lacked the ingenuity and personality that had made the previous games so vibrant and alive. But over the next few years, various updates and expansion packs made \u201cThe Sims 4\u201d more popular. In 2020, \u201cThe Sims 4\u201d even surpassed<\/a> the sales of the original game.<\/p>\n

In 2022, \u201cThe Sims\u201d was introduced to a whole new group of gamers when EA decided to make \u201cThe Sims 4\u201d free to play<\/a>. \u201cThat move drew in huge numbers of new players,\u201d says Dunning. Last year, it was reported that \u201cThe Sims 4\u201d had been played by 85 million people<\/a>. \u201cPeople can try it out without paying anything. [Some] end up spending enough on expansion packs and stuff kits that the free model has been extremely profitable,\u201d adds Dunning.<\/p>\n

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The Sims FreePlay on Apple’s App Store is seen in this illustrated photo taken in Poland on August 8, 2024<\/p>\n

Jakub Porzycki \/ NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a result, \u201cThe Sims\u201d is arguably more popular than ever. While it might not be mentioned in the zeitgeist or among gamers as much as when it debuted, the ever-increasing community of \u201cSims\u201d players\u2014who regularly share their stories and creations online\u2014proves that the game is still a focal point of many people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

The internet has been bringing \u201cSims\u201d players together since the very beginning. \u201cThe \u2018Sims 1\u2019 forums were the dominant way to engage with content outside of the game,\u201d says McNamara. \u201c\u2018The Sims 2\u2019 had an exchange where users could upload stories directly from the game, and \u2018The Sims 3\u2019 saw the rise in YouTube and Twitch content about \u2018The Sims.\u2019 \u2018The Sims 4\u2019 has brought so many new Simmers, and creators along with that, and the amount of time it\u2019s been since the game dropped has meant that creators have had to get extremely creative with challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to surmising the impact of \u201cThe Sims,\u201d it will forever be remembered for \u201cputting simulation games on the map,\u201d says McNamara. But its influence and importance to the gaming world and its users runs much deeper. \u201cIt also had a huge impact on diversity<\/a> in gaming,\u201d McNamara adds. She points out that it was one of the first games to depict same-sex relationships<\/a>. Deligracy says that it has always aimed to be \u201cinclusive<\/a>, progressive and contemporary\u201d in terms of its characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sims\u201d also proved to the industry that video games were enjoyed by women, at a time when the medium was primarily targeted at men<\/a>. \u201cIn the years since then\u2014and especially after people began carrying smartphones powerful enough to play all kinds of games\u2014we\u2019ve seen audiences for video games continue to expand far beyond any one narrow image of the kind of person who plays them,\u201d says Dunning. \u201cGames now explore as wide a range of topics as any other form of media. \u2018The Sims\u2019 showed that the subject matter and audience for video games could be far broader than many people believed at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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