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

[Grim Sterling]

I think what will ultimately decide is after a few expansions, if EA begins to see a degree of Consumer fatigue due to cost vs benefit for Sims. When the game and all of the "stuff" and expansions get too expensive to keep up with for the average person, you'll see a sharp drop off in numbers. Kill the franchise? Nah. Don't make a Sims 5, just keep churning the Sims 4, eventually make the base game "free" on Origin and then continue to rape consumers for content and expansions. That seems like what EA would do as a contingency. Hardcore fans can continue to pay out the nose for gameplay stuff and everyone else will just move on.

 

[Armadox]

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.

So... Anyone up to bringing "Little Computer People" back? I'd buy an up-dated version of that any day of the week. Hell, if they pour everything into the A.I. and interactions from the player it'd make a freaking mint.

 

[DrOswald]

Honestly? This is a reasonable position. Why would you make a sequel if you can't make the franchise profitable? EA's fault or our fault, if the franchise doesn't make money they should stop making it. If EA is incapable of making a good Sims game they should stop making Sims games.

 

[Dogishappy]

This crap again? Fine, screw you too EA. How about instead of threatening your consumers with "Your favorite game won't exist any more if it doesn't perform to our standards. So go out and buy 3 copies or else we won't make our unrealistic sales goals." You sell us the games we want for a reasonable price?

Sure, some people may have fallen for it with Dead Space 3, but you are only hurting yourselves in the long run. Curb your expectations, stop spending yourselves into this situation to begin with, and don't punish us for not buying your crap.

 

[Auron225]

You mean I only have to endure the existence of one more Sims game before it goes away forever? Aww, EA you shouldn't have!

 

[Dalisclock]

Considering sequels tend to get worse as the franchise goes on, and apparently Sims 4 is pretty craptacular, why should we care if there is no Sims 5?

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

So you're threatening to kill off one of your most popular series, when the newest instalment has been out barely a week and you no doubt have 3-4 years worth of dlc planned. Maybe jumping the gun a bit there EA, but good luck with that plan. Saying that I'd make a large bet they would end up rebooting the series before the decades is out either way.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

these fuckin' people, god

the same script, every time

-buy developer
-force developer to make shitty decisions
-release shitty game
-kill franchise/dev because of shitty game

 

[gamegod25]

Totally agree. I don't see this as 'holding the gamer base hostage', I see this as a completely reasonable business reaction. If the game is bad, so bad that the gamer base does not buy it, why on god's green earth would they put MORE time and energy and resources into something that lost money for them, instead of a different game or franchise that will make money and people enjoy?

Because people want Sims games, they just want a good game and not a half-assed, nickel and dime the player cash in. It's not the customers fault for not buying an inferior product. It's like a burger joint not selling burgers anymore because people weren't buying their cheap quality burgers; taking them off the menu entirely rather than addressing the real issue. There problem isn't a lack of a demand for the game, it's EA being a failure to satisfy that demand. The smart business decision (well aside from making a better game in the first place) is to actually listen to gamers and put effort into making a better game next time. Sulking off and taking their toys with them doesn't help anyone.

Kinda like how games can sell millions and yet still not be considered a success by the company, sorry but that's their fault not ours.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

heh look at it this way fellas, at the rate they were taking features off, the base game of the next installment wouldve been nothing more than a blank DVD with a list of DLCs you must buy to piece the game together

 

[Creedsareevil]

Buy the game or we wont make another?

Wut.

Lol EA, you so funny.

 

[ObserverStatus]

Remember kids: it's only okay to hate something as long as the games media says its okay to hate something. Otherwise you are worse than ISIS *rolls eyes*

You are just like ISIS, they send mean tweets to feminist bloggers and indie game developers all the time.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

EA. EA never changes.

Since the dawn of time, games have been cancelled for everything from Money, to controversy, to Pure Psychotic DRM...

XD

And let us not forget what might have been a system seller for the 3DS early on: Megaman Legends 3. Capcom straight up trolled us with that one. First they held it hostage, and then decided they just flat out didn't care.

I'm still mad about that. I would have bought that game. Might even have sold me my 3DS a few months to a year earlier.

----

Gee, EA and you WONDER why everyone sees you as money-obsessed psychopaths. Screw up a game franchise, demand people buy it or it will be axed, repeat until series is dead, then move on to another one.

We still haven't forgotten Dead Space, EA.

 

[Seracen]

Well, if EA keeps up this mindset, maybe they will soon cancel every title they could ever potentially produce...with the exception of Madden and MAYBE Battlefied...

Sounds legit...maybe this will keep them the hell away from other game devs (thereby sinking those companies with their inevitable inept handling of IP's) that have NO BUSINESS putting out cookie cutter iterations on a yearly basis (which is why Dragon Age 2 was so much a step backwards).

Keep doing this EA...the sooner you go out of business, the sooner other companies can buy the IP's you've run into the ground! Hopefully, the example will also teach other companies what sort of behavior they should avoid as well!

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

To all the people saying that this makes no business sense, let me ask you something. What would make less business sense? Cancelling a sequel because the newest installment was not successful, or making a sequel ignoring the failure of the last one. You just know that if EA had said anything along the lines of "Regardless of the results of Sims 4 in sales, we will not be discontinuing the series," people would be rolling their eyes and accusing EA of milking the series for all its worth, making snarky comments about "What are you going to cut out of the next one? Teenagers?" Instead, they say that the future of the series is uncertain, and they will be waiting to see how it does before deciding whether or not to continue with the series. So now, they get a bunch of people accusing them of "holding the series hostage".

EA will never repair their image in the eyes of gamers. Because those gamers WANT to hate EA, and will find any way they can of twisting EA's words to do so.

 

[Rad Party God]

Meh, we still have Sims 2 and 3, don't really care for the direction Sims 4 took and I highly doubt it'll be any better for Sims 5.

 

[jackpipsam]

Of course they're not making Sims 5 yet, Sims 4 just came out and these games have a long time span before the next.
Sims 4 most likely started production well after the launch of Sims 3, since most of the team would have been working on expansions (and SimCity as well I guess).

It will be a while before EA starts making a Sims 5, it would be a waste to start now when they've got about five years or so of money to make from Sims 4.

 

[Ulquiorra4sama]

EA management seems so far removed from reality, it's like they're living in a completely different universe. Alienating your fanbase by making your own failures seem like theirs is a great way to do business. It's not selling because it's shit EA! There's no greater conspiracy at work here.

Do we have official numbers yet? Because I personally know no one irl who bought the Sims 4.

I know one person who bought it. He said they'd stripped so many features out of it the game just wasn't fun to play at all. He was very thankful for Origin's 24-hour return policy at least. Since then he's gone over to playing Sims 3 again.

It's like how EA published the new SimCity only for people to go back and play SimCity 4.