EA CEO Says Company Is Developing The Sims For 'A New Generation'

Friday marked 20 years since The Sims was first released, and while that may make a lot of us feel nostalgic/old, it sounds like the game could be brought up to date for a new generation in the not-too-distant future.

Speaking at an earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson didn't explicitly promise us a new game. However, he did heavily allude to it, stating the developer Maxis was exploring how The Sims world could be broadened in the coming years.

EA

According to Sims Community, Wilson was asked during an earnings call about relaunching The Sims Online, a multiplayer online version of the game which launched in 2002, but was taken offline in 2008

He said: "As Maxis continues to think about The Sims for a new generation, cross-platforms and a cloud of a neighbourhood world, you should imagine while we will always stay true to our inspiration, escape, creation, self-improvement, motivations - that this notion of social interactions and competition, like the kind of things that were actually present in The Sims Online many, many years ago - that they will start to become a part of The Sims experience in the years to come.

"We are very excited. This is a game that really doesn't have any competition in its category for delivering and fulfilling these motivations for players and we think of the tremendous growth opportunities for us for many, many years to come."

While this is not confirmation of The Sims 5, the focus on 'cross-platforms and a cloud of a neighbourhood world' in the 'years to come' does sound pretty exciting.

And he really is right about the game not having any competition; truly, The Sims is the only game that offers you the chance build yourself a beautiful virtual life, and then destroy it by locking your character in the bathroom until they die.

Elaborating on what a future manifestation of the game might look like, Andrew said: "As we think about The Sims, again, I reference the motivations of why we play the games, inspiration, escape, social interaction, creation, self improvement, competition.

"Typically what The Sims has done is really focus on fulfilling the motivations and inspiration, escape, creation, self-improvement and not necessarily focus as much as on social interaction and competition.

EA

"But a few things are in fact true over the years. One is that The Sims community continues to grow and with the broad of social platforms continue to connect with each other and share what they do - in and around the game they play. And we've seen that manifest in The Sims Online, which was a more social experience for us.

"And we're also seeing that the competition nature of The Sims is also rising and we're seeing people compare and contrast. Not competition in an original sport sense but how they create and what they create and how they use their imaginations and what they're able to build inside of these Sims universes."

OK, now less talk Andrew and more getting The Sims 5 done, yeah?

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey