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

[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.

 

[truckspond]

Since The Sims 4 base game has less content and is less immersive than The Sims 3 base game I'll just be sticking with The Sims 3. If EA wanted to stop making these games all they had to do is tell us

 

[Artaneius]

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.

To be fair, if it's your ball then you should be able to call the shots with it. When I buy a car, I don't expect family and friends to be driving it whenever they feel like it. When I buy something, it's for MY enjoyment first and foremost. People using this stupid analogy since Cliffy B said it. And all Cliffy B has done is betray his original fanbase ie the Unreal community to appease console gamers ie Gears of War.

 

[RicoADF]

To be fair, if it's your ball then you should be able to call the shots with it. When I buy a car, I don't expect family and friends to be driving it whenever they feel like it. When I buy something, it's for MY enjoyment first and foremost. People using this stupid analogy since Cliffy B said it. And all Cliffy B has done is betray his original fanbase ie the Unreal community to appease console gamers ie Gears of War.

Technically that's true but the saying is that when someone does a hissy fit they 'take the ball and go home', this is a publisher's equivalent. I've used and heard that saying since I was a kid, it's not a new saying. I also don't like 'Cliffy B' and think his recent games are boring since he sold out and turned on his customers.

Captcha - "I love you" - Ok take it slowly captcha, we just met......

 

[DeimosMasque]

I'm not entirely sure what the outrage here is. Isn't this true of like every franchise ever to exist. If the previous one isn't successful then there isn't a new one, that's sort of how it goes doesn't it?

Am I missing something here? I mean that, if I'm missing something let me know. It just seems like it's a rather obvious statement to make and the anger over it seems a bit misplaced.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

I'm not entirely sure what the outrage here is. Isn't this true of like every franchise ever to exist. If the previous one isn't successful then there isn't a new one, that's sort of how it goes doesn't it?

Am I missing something here? I mean that, if I'm missing something let me know. It just seems like it's a rather obvious statement to make and the anger over it seems a bit misplaced.

The anger is there for two reasons. First, because each of the previous Sims games have been successful, so people think that cancelling a previously profitable series because of one unsuccessful game is short-sighted. The other reason is because EA is saying this, so it must be bad.

 

[Bindal]

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.

Counterquestion: What makes more sense as a consumer: Buying a bad game in hopes a sequel will be better - or just say "no, that thing is NOT what I expect from that franchise" and expect a better version to come later and buy that?

 

[kouriichi]

I was under the impression that it was already successful. Every site selling it has it close to the top.

No, no, no! When they mean successful, they mean highest grossing game of all time. The only way for big name companies to stay afloat these days is to triple sales every new release! Market projections say that they should sell 30x more copies of the game then there are PC owners. And if they dont reach that projected sales figure, its a commercial failure that will crash the economy!

But in all seriousness, this is just EA and Maxis blowing smoke out their bum. Until the official sales numbers come in, they can claim whatever they want, and we cannot argue with them about it. This could be the best selling Sims to date, and we wouldnt know. But they dug their own grave by removing content, and releasing a game that is a general downgrade from the Sims 3. And now they think they can threaten us by saying there wont be a next Sims game when this one was under par.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Good the less EA has to sell the better we all are. If they keep it up maybe they will run out of things to sell! One more dumb media corp down the drain...hopefully...

 

[L. Declis]

EA keeps killing off franchises... why?

Doesn't it see that it is itself the common thread between dozens of fantastically popular franchises being killed?

It's like a guy who gets a new sexy girlfriend every few years, murders her, and then complains "Why can't it have a stable relationship?"

 

[shrekfan246]

Doesn't it go without saying that if a game/movie/book isn't successful that there won't be a follow-up in the near future?

Why should people let logic stop a good old fashioned "let's hate EA!" session?

Nothing against the writers of The Escapist, guys, but these are the types of articles people upset about "games journalism" should be complaining about, if you ask me. While it provides a link to the original source for greater context most of these people know the majority of their readers aren't going to go to the source. So the article has to be as snappy as it can to draw as much attention as it can, even at the cost of properly representing the actual conversation which took place. But hey, it's what the readers want, so that's what the writers keep putting out.

OT: I'll echo the people who say "Of course they're not working on The Sims 5." The Sims has long been known for its excessive expansion pack business model, and anybody who didn't think the same thing would happen with 4 was likely just fooling themselves. I've got very few doubts that The Sims 4 will eventually be a pretty good game, it's just something of a shame that they have apparently made the base experience so dire.