EA Unveils Sims 4 Premium Membership

[roseofbattle]

EA Unveils Sims 4 Premium Membership

<youtube=YfZOMo7q1Iw>​

Similar to Battlefield's premium service, a Sims 4 premium subscription includes early access to new expansion packs.

In the latest Sims 4 demo video from EA, a brief advertisement, visible for only one second, suggests the game will have a premium service. EA has a similar service for Battlefield.

The advertisement appears at 13:26 into the 30-minute video and reads: "The Sims 4 Premium. Save on new packs with early access and exclusive items. Become a Premium member to get early access to three new packs, with exclusive items. Your Sims can throw a spooky costume party, camp in the great outdoors, and toast to the new year in style."

This would be the first time a Sims game had a membership as opposed to a premium edition that includes bonus content with the game. The premium membership appears to be an early access experiment for EA.

There are a few directions this membership could go. Expansion packs for The Sims are pricey, so a membership that provides a less expensive way for fans to access all content. However, it's hard not to be wary of what kind of monetization EA will do with this service.

Earlier this month, EA stated previous staples of the titles, like pools and toddlers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135959-The-Sims-4-Wont-Have-Pools-Because-its-Too-Much-Work-Says-EA], would not be included in The Sims 4 at launch because it could not include every feature by launch. EA will likely add pools and toddlers later on.

The Sims 4 launches September 2.

Source: SimsVIP [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZOMo7q1Iw]


Permalink

 

[Racecarlock]

A p- a pr- a pre-... a premium subscription?

How about you put pools with the base game first you fucking money parasites?

 

[Barbas]

...And not a single part of any of what is planned will function adequately on release, I imagine.

Spoiler

Ah, fuck it. Let's go bowling.

 

[wetfart]

Want your pools and toddlers? Better sign up for the premium subscription!

 

[Jadedvet]

But of course they added a premium subscription.

Another company might focus on making the launch game something I would consider buying but this is EA.

 

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

I've been a fan of The Sims for over a decade, and I'm not usually one to hop on the "EA IS EVIL" bandwagon, but this is sooooome bullshit. Announcing this AFTER revealing that core content would be removed from the base Sims 4 game is garbage. I was really looking forward to The Sims 4 but at this point it's not a day-one purchase anymore, if I get it at all.

 

[Ninmecu]

Want your pools and toddlers? Better sign up for the premium subscription!

Read that in DiMartino's voice.

On topic, it's EA. I've long since stopped giving a damn what they try to do because it will inevitably come back and bite us in the ass with a poorly thought out payment structure. They should really just give up on the Publishing/Development thing and become what they /really/ want to be, a Credit Card Company.

 

[Falterfire]

At least they had the decency to not include pools and toddlers in the first add-on packs. I suppose they wanted to save that PR Nightmare for later.

I suppose in a year or so when they release it they'll just claim that it was only through truly Herculean levels of skill were their teams able to add in such complex features. (And indeed, the effort required is why you should give them $40 for this new pack)

 

[Kevlar Eater]

*sigh*

Spoiler

I feel bad for my sister, considering that she has plans on getting this game. I fear she may end up signing up for the service.

 

[Ziggy]

Announcing

You might want to watch the video, they didn't announce shit.

 

[Trishbot]

EA, taking games that have no business having subscription, premium, and F2P business models, and trying to fit that round peg through that square hole.

Well, it turned out great for SimCity.
And I hear Dead Space 3 was embraced for having microtransactions.
And Battlefield 4 was totally not broken for an entire year but still charged premiums for content.
And Spore's DRM totally stopped it from being the most pirated game ever at release.
And Dungeon Keeper is a huge success with it's F2P business model.

EA, the company that wins worst company in America two years in a row, and then absolutely refuses to learn any lessons whatsoever or change a damn thing.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I'm usually a big fan of The Sims, but between this shit and the fact they've taken simple stuff out of the game (inevitably to sell back later), EA can get fucked with this one.

 

[Serrenitei]

EA is what happens when you let business people make decisions...ever.

Let's assume that Dungeon Keeper Mobile was the model -- so you can expect a game where it's virtually impossible to do anything without shelling out money every 5 minutes, where EA then responds with "Oh, we just innovated too far ahead for you lesser folks to understand."

This won't be the death of the franchise, but the sooner that EA splinters off into actually productive studios again, the better.

 

[kajinking]

Instead of a long tirade I'll just skip to a brief summary comment

Oh Screw This!!

 

[Chinchama]

EA is that kid in school who is a complete dick to everyone, yet still has friends. Seems though EA is about to graduate college with a 2.0 and get into the real world and realize that suddenly it has no friends anymore.

 

[lacktheknack]

NOPE.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE.

NOPE.

I'M PERMANENTLY STUCK IN NOPE MODE.

Screw SimCity, THIS is a truly unmitigated disaster, because they're freaking announcing the trainwreck before it happens. I mean, "premium membership" that doesn't even get you free expansion packs? EA, y u no trying anymore?

 

[Dreadman75]

Wait, they're doing early access for DLC now?! What the fuck is wrong with you EA?
How do you even do that? It's fucking DLC, as in "content that should be available to ANYONE and EVERYONE who bought your piece of shit game in the first place".

Oh my god...

This is just disgusting.

 

[vdrandom]

The Need for Greed continues, welcome to EA.

I just cannot force myself not only to care about their releases but to even laugh at them anymore, they and Ubisoft are two huge jokes that haven't been funny for quite some time already.