EA: "If The Sims 4 Isn't Successful, There Won't be a Sims 5"

[Steven Bogos]

EA: "If The Sims 4 Isn't Successful, There Won't be a Sims 5"

An official EA poster claims that the company isn't working on The Sims 5 at all, and its very existence hinges on the success of The Sims 4.

Grass grows, birds fly, and EA releases a new The Sims title every few years. It is, after all, one of the best-selling franchises of all time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_PC_games]. But, that may cease to be the case if its latest effort, The Sims 4, is not successful. Posting on EA's official forums, The Sims producer SimGuruGrant stated that the team isn't even thinking about The Sims 5, and won't even consider it if it isn't happy with The Sims 4.

"We're not working on Sims 5," posted Grant [http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/12589796/#Comment_12589796], in response to a fan's suggestions on what to include in the next title. "We're not thinking about Sims 5. If Sims 4 isn't successful, there won't be a Sims 5."

A lot of fans have been criticizing EA and Maxis for some rather unpopular decisions [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135727-The-Sims-4-Wont-Have-Pools-Toddlers] it made with The Sims 4, and reception to the game's release has been somewhat negative.

Grant and Maxis insist that they are dedicated to the game for the long-run, and that they won't just abandon it in favor of another sequel, but EA's track-record of doing this exact thing [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/previews/9479-Battlefield-Hardline-Beta-Multiplayer-Gameplay-Lets-Play-Battlefield] with its other franchises is not exactly stellar.

Hopefully, Maxis will actually stick to its word and turn things around with The Sims 4.

Source: reddit [http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/12589796/#Comment_12589796]

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[kaizen2468]

Or, stay with me on this, or they could gauge the current market interest and release a new game that targets that market. Now this last part is crucial, give it a manageable budget to meet those expectations.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

So...if they screw up a franchise that was already popular by making one game that isn't that great, it's OUR fault, so we don't get another game that corrects the problems?

Honestly, all they need to do is add the content people have come to expect in the games with a patch and it will sell just fine. The game just came out. I'll give them time. They at least attempted to fix Sim City. It's my hope they'll do the same with The Sims 4.

 

[Infernai]

I simply can't imagine WHY it wouldn't be successful? I mean, what possibly could have happened to make people not want to buy the sims 4? [/sarcasm]

 

[tippy2k2]

Oh EA, you so silly!

First you say you don't want to be considered the worst company in America again [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137287-EA-We-Never-Want-to-Be-Named-Worst-U-S-Company-Again-Be-Named-Worst-U-S-Company-Again] and then you state that if your rush-job piece of S game doesn't sell well, you're going to kill the entire franchise.

But yeah EA, threaten your consumer base. That's the key to not being voted the worst company in America...

 

[MisterColeman]

The Sims 4 is awful and if this is the best they can do I don't even want to know what their Sims 5 would be like, so good riddance.

 

[LobsterFeng]

"If you guys don't buy our sequel that no one asked for we won't make another sequel that no one asked for!" -EA

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

This is why people hate you EA, you are holding an entire franchise ransom if we don't go buy the latest iteration no matter how feature-stripped or buggy it is. Shame on you EA.

 

[Erttheking]

To be honest, this might actually be a good thing. Let the more franchise die with a little bit of dignity instead of being hacked away at bit by bit until there's nothing of the original left.

 

[Elfgore]

I have to change the old quote "Two steps forward, one step back" for you guys. It's now, "Ten steps back, half-step forward."

You say you don't want to be voted worst company in America again, yet now you not only threaten an entire franchise, you threaten your consumers who look forward to each new installment. You rushed out the Sims 4 and from what I've played, it is a piece of shit. So I guess petty threats is the only way to get people to buy it. You'd think you'd at least give the Sims some leniency, since it is one of your most profitable franchises.

So far, you guys aren't doing so well on your promise.

 

[RicoADF]

You know blackmailing your customers with "Buy the latest game or you get no more" just makes you look like the spoilt kid that takes their ball home when it doesn't go their way. Probably for the best anyway, they've clearly run out of ideas that they need to hold back stuff for the DLC's.

 

[Frozengale]

Hmm... sounds like we need some other Big Budget Triple-A to step in and actually make a good Life Simulator and get ALL THE MONEY.

Maybe this time around a studio that understands that the best way to make a game good is to not strip it down to it's bare bones and then shovel all the cool bits in via highly priced DLC.

 

[Imre Csete]

Of course they aren't thinking about Sims 5, they are busy planning for so much expansion packs, that you could build your own dvd case fort from them, just like how they did with the past two Sims games.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I fail to understand where a world where Sims 5 doesn't exist is a bad thing.

 

[Lagslayer]

We can only hope EA is serious and they finally kill themselves from their own stupidity. Of course, this hinges on people not just buying the shit they shill anyways.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

If any Sims fans want to join me in the corner to weep for dead franchises, I've got a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy. I was just pouring one out for Dead Space, I'll see if I can get you a glass.

OT: I really hate it when one bad entry in a franchise cans the whole thing. Hell, it doesn't even have to be bad, it just has to not sell well. Happened to Dead Space, happened to Banjo Kazooie, it came this close to happening to Metroid and Korra, it might have happened to Beyond Good and Evil and Megaman. Granted there are times when a franchise has carried on past the point it should have stopped, coughHaloGlasslandsResidentEvil6ManOfSteelcough, but seeing all that potential ignored and effort wasted because of one failure is just deppresing to me. I never played the Sims, but I can sympathise with seeing a beloved series die because of poor management.

 

[Kmadden2004]

"We're not working on Sims 5... We're not thinking about Sims 5."

Well, of course you're not. You've still got about four year's worth of Sims 4 DLC to concentrate on first before you even begin to think about Sims 5...

 

[Kevlar Eater]

Pretty sure many of us have seen the long list of missing features that have existed since The Sims 1-3 that should have been in this installment. If not, here you go [http://ts4news.com/post/94541924952/89-features-missing-from-the-sims-4]. If there isn't a Sims 5, it may be because fans of The Sims have gotten sick of getting fleeced, and wanna play a feature-rich game.

But this is EA we're talking about here. They can't exactly go a full month without being hypocritical and shoving feet in their mouth so often, they may have developed a fetish.

 

[Neverhoodian]

"We'll change our ways, honest! Now buy our rushed, subpar Sims game or we'll kill the fucking franchise!"

Oh, EA. You haven't learned anything.

If any Sims fans want to join me in the corner to weep for dead franchises, I've got a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy. I was just pouring one out for Dead Space, I'll see if I can get you a glass

No need, they can have mine. I'm still smashed from the "R.I.P. Westwood-era Command & Conquer" wake.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

So, as has been said, RIGHT after you say you don't want to be seen as the bad guy anymore, you start tying up the proverbial damsel in distress, saying you won't let her go until we solve a problem YOU caused. Good riddance.