When you think of life-mimicking simulation games, you’re likely to think of The Sims franchise. With the first game released back in 2000, the latest instalment in the series is of course The Sims 4. Released back in 2014 by EA, it has continually received new content through its 10-year life. It boasts more expressive sims through the new emotion system, and has better building controls in comparison to earlier games. So why is there so much controversy surrounding the game?
The game premise itself hasn’t changed dramatically from earlier games apart from focusing less on lore and storylines. However, it does feel like you need to buy a lot more expansion packs to get the same experience as earlier games. For example, The Sims 3 had cats, dogs and horses in the Pets expansion back. The Sims 4 equivalent is split into 2 packs: “Cats and Dogs” and “Horse Ranch”. This means that you’re paying twice for something you’d only have to pay for once before. And the price difference is significant, The Sims 3 packs cost £17.99, The Sims 4 cost £34.99. So, you’re looking at paying either £18 or £70 for what is fundamentally the same thing.
You can argue that modern games cost more. However, EA does have a rather money-hungry reputation. It certainly feels like the Sims franchise is nothing but another way for EA to capitalise off of a simple base game – and the many expansion packs which followed. If it was just the price, the article would wrap up here. But the price feeds into another problem.
Issues with the game
The DLC for The Sims 4 often feels unfinished and rushed. An important part of the game development cycle is testing, and it feels like not enough of that is happening anymore. So, you end up with an underwhelming in-game experience after paying quite a fair bit of money. All of this seems to be a purposeful approach that EA has decided to take, as they pump out expansion packs, rather than creating a base game which feels complete.
Apart from the problem of rushed development, EA seems to treat the players themselves as the testers. Just look at the release of the newest expansion pack. “Lovestruck” was released on 25 July and expands upon the existing romance and intimacy system within the game.
Since its release, there have been several emergency updates addressing bugs. Some of these bugs have been game breaking, leaving people unable to play. Even people who didn’t buy the ‘Lovestruck’ pack have been affected. Bugs are to be expected of course, but the severity and number of them is alarming. These should have been noticed in testing, which indicates that the development was rushed. Instead, it’s the players themselves finding and reporting the bugs, therefore they’re taking on the play testing role.
While there are many posts and comments on social media encouraging people to boycott the game, the pack releases are still successful. After the most glaring bugs are fixed, negative comments are less vocal until the release of a new DLC, where the cycle begins again.
With all the issues discussed so far, why are players continuing to buy expansion packs for the game?
Currently, there aren’t many other options for life simulation games, so there’s no competition. Other companies looking to enter the market include Paradox Interactive, who were working on Life by You which was cancelled over the summer. Other competitors include Paralives, and InZoi, the latter releasing an early access build which has received positive feedback.
It is a shame to see what has happened to The Sims franchise, but it’s hoped that the competition will motivate EA into changing their approach or simply provide people with other options for life simulation games.