“The Sims” is an incredibly successful series of life simulation games. For more than two decades, “The Sims” franchise has garnered over 500 million players around the world. “The Sims 4,” released in 2014 is the latest main installment of the series and has the largest fanbase with 85 million players. “The Sims” franchise had its 25th birthday on Feb. 4 and a variety of events were held to celebrate. I really enjoyed all of the festivities just as I have always enjoyed playing “The Sims 4.”
For their anniversary, “The Sims 4″ had a major update on Jan. 4 to its free-to-play base game. New build items, clothing items and a massive redesign of the main menu were included in this update. Iconic buildings including Affluista Mansion, Ophelia Villa and Pique Hearth received a major, and much needed, redecoration. Most players agree that these buildings were slightly bleak before. But now, they have so much more personality to them, perfectly encapsulating the personality of the residents of the houses.
In addition to the new features, a new event named “Blast From the Past” was launched. For a month, “The Sims 4″ players can complete in-game tasks to earn rewards that are only claimable during the anniversary event. Many of these rewards are retro-styled or throwbacks to earlier “The Sims” games. The time-travel-based storyline of the “Blast From the Past” event features the mysterious time traveler Emit Relevart. Together with Emit, the player will unravel a mystery of time.
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with celebrations, a 25 hour livestream was held by Electronic Arts (EA) and Maxi’s, the publisher and developer of “The Sims.” This livestream was a party featuring Doja Cat, Latto and notable Sims content creators most notably, Deligracy, Caryn & Connie and Plumbella. While most Simmers enjoyed the festivities, some believed that not enough information was released about the in-the-works “Sims 5.”
Several new merchandise items were released to honor the 25 year legacy of “The Sims.” From shirts to sweaters to decorated mouse pads, “The Sims 25” collection successfully pays homage to the legendary Sims series.
The “The Sims” team also released a poster showing the timeline of celebration events. Starting with three kit releases on Jan. 16, to a mystery event on Feb. 25, which we now know is the update to “The Sims 4″ base game that brought back the iconic burglar mechanics. Many fans hope new “The Sims 4″ content will be announced, like a new expansion pack or a revamp of an existing pack. While I won’t be buying any new packs, I am exc
ited to see new mechanics be used in “The Sims 4″ content.
The creator of “The Sims,” Will Wright, describes his game as “a virtual dollhouse.” While this description hits the spot on what the game is, there’s so much more to discover when a player plays the game for the first time. 25 years after the initial release of “The Sims” the game and its community are still thriving.