The Sims 5 Confirmed Free-to-Play, The Sims 4 to Receive Continued Support in Tandem

My daughter loves the sims 4 on her xbox and has purchased a few of the add on packs with birthday money etc. I can see this being a complete cash cow with it being free to download and thats one cow i will not be feeding. Its one thing having a complete game then additional full themed packs for purchase but this sounds like everything you get will be the basic crap no one wants then you will buy everything additionally. £10 for a wardrobe anyone? No thanks.

3 was better than 4 in my opinion. Being able to just walk around without loading screens made the world feel bigger and more alive. I wish console versions would let you control the movement of a character rather than point and click like the PC version. Also, I think the Switch is the perfect console for a Sims game, even if it's a spin off, so I hope they bring one to the Switch. I also like the free to play thing if the extras are bundled. Paying for a set of furniture would suck but buying packs like 4 has won't be too bad because it means you don't have to clog the game with things you'll never use.
Oh, and I hope it gets online play. Being able to visit friends etc would make me a lot more interested in the game.

I've played Sims one day, Sims 2 one hour and Sims 3 and 4 didn't play at all and never will. I don't expect to care about Sims 5 at all especialy with this concept of free core program.

This model makes more sense for them since they're planning on charging you an arm and a leg for every little pack they can think of.

last time i played a Sims game is Sims 2 for my Gamecube.

I still havent played Sims 3 which is for Playstation 3.

what's new anyway for Sims 4?

Sims 4 was to be paid to play for so many years, and didnt hold back EA to release content which RRP value is over 900£. What does Sims 5 will change with free to download? Bring down price by 30£ and thats all.

I played a lot of Sims 1 & 3 (missed out on 2), but Sims 4 never really clicked with me. My main issue was that 4's base game was very underwhelming. The various expansion packs might have helped fix that, but the huge cost of the DLCs put me right off.

@get2sammyb I agree its strange to support Sims 4 as IMO its not worth continuing the support as its not like it was a GREAT game.

I disagree though on your point its unplayable. Been playing it for months on PS5 with my partner as she loves the Sims and the worst we've experienced were some minor stutters when building a house. I hate how segmented it is compared to Sims 3 and the loading screens but it even runs better than its predecessor. It is also ridiculous that EA continues to sell so much DLC for it at absurd prices. My least favourite Sims game by far but definitely not unplayable and doesn't even run as bad as you say

@theMEGAniggle it is not strange but smart. You have dedicated Sims 4 players, who have spent lots of money. Lets say Sims 5 comes out empty or is nsot what they like. They will go back to Sims 4 and whats there? There is new shiny pack to buy. As soon Sims 5 will show signs to overtake Sims 4, then they will call it a day. Its smart business. Predatory? Definately, thats why I will not even look towards Sims 5.

I really wish a competitor would come along, similar to Cities Skylines, and make a valid rival to The Sims. EA’s outrageous greed with this franchise has completely destroyed any enthusiasm I had for it.

They're going to rinse the fanbase dry with this one, it's so obvious

@REALAIS yeah you are right. When I say strange I was overlooking the predatory intentions for sure. Just sad how EA have gradually ruined and stripped content from every franchise they have got their hands on. Yes, Sims was always DLC heavy but at least the base games were actually fun. Sims 1 was barren but 2 and 3 were by far some of the best gaming experiences to be had. And they all had more features than Sims 4 ships with.

Sad thing is Sims 5 will probably be successful because its 'free'.

@Rob3008 There's Paralives as one of the leading competitors that's being worked on currently. It looks promising from the videos and screenshots I've seen.

Not surprised with this change in Sims 5. The quality of expansions and stuff packs degraded overtime in the series. With Sims 4, which was originally developed as an online-only Adults only life stage before backlash had them scrambling to add other life stages over the years. I've been a fan of the series since 2002 with Sims 1, and Sims 2 era was definitely the golden age with their multiple versions and even The Urbz (which is a time capsule of 2000s culture and nostalgia now). But the unfortunate situation is no other series has come close to the life simulation so The Sims will always be supported by name alone in spite of quality which is only saved by PC modders.

@REALAIS I mean, that's every Sims release ever.
I'm divided on it being free to play. If it keeps the current monotizatoin model with a million packs, sure, okay. The base game is already worthless even at launch to be honest. If they make the monetization even worse it's over. It's already completely overpriced and they divided one Sims 3 expansion into three for the Sims 4, and Sims 3 was already very overpriced.

I hope they add split-screen multiplayer back, like in the console version of The Sims 2.

If they are going to sell the game in parts any ways, then free to play model is a fairer model.

@Rob3008 Life By You from Paradox. No idea how it's going to be of course, but hopefully it will be good and not this insane greed by EA.

@get2sammyb I think much like publishers that are still making games for the PS4, EA is looking at the install base.

Even though 5 is free-to-play, there have been so many DLC packs that people have for 4 that many of them wouldn’t want to start over from scratch, as well as a casual audience — which are the bulk of Sims players — that might not notice a new SKU, but will notice a new DLC pack for the one they’ve been playing for years.

They have also went through the release of Sims 4, where there were many, many complaints about missing features from the previous games, that they might want a more gradual transition to the new game, rather than immediately stop support the old game.

To me, 4 was a huge step back from 3. Even the changes they’ve made since then haven’t changed my mind on that. I doubt 5 will be much better.

The new additions were fine but free to play. I mean I skipped Sims 4, why should I care about Sims 5 then.

Also will Sims 5 play like Sims 2 console did. There is a reason mostly played Sims 1-3 on PC and only a few Sims 2 console versions is what I found at the time and the best ways to play. A cursor on console is good 'as an option' not the 'only way' to play. Sims 2 had 'player moves' and 'cursor'. Be flexible.

It's why PC versions to console I think need to have different controls. The content sure that was a bit far back in the day even if was exciting to see how different. I get the parity these days because it benefits devs more besides that too much to have separate products or players ask for parity. But when we games too similar you expect console controls to different from PC at least in some form. Other PC centric series do it well, why not Sims when Sims 2 they had great console controls 'and the cursor' it's called options which I find many devs aren't willing to do and it's why I find 'newcomer' then 'flexible for BOTH AUDIENCES' end up happening and I enjoy games less and less and buy the Indies/niche games with reasonable budgets more is they annoy me less in 'controls/quality of life/game design structure of level design, use of core mechanics, career modes/menus and content'.

So many AAA seem to annoy me a lot on. It's so much 'newcomer only' while fans either enjo0y it still or hate many changes. I am fine sometimes with dramatic changes but 'if they benefit' when they don't I find them so distracting/basically sell worthy/not worth a purchase. I can be a newcomer but once I am past that point I notice what I think works better for me, for others and not ruining the good parts and sometimes they ruin the good parts and it's annoying. Stop dumbing your games down. If you have to 'offer options' not 'we only do this for 1 audience so suck it up' thanks now you know why I went retro or only with specific games instead AAA.

When people become veterans they want the training wheels off when the game is too much training wheels and you can't change them in the settings the games become more glaringly annoying then fun. Training wheels make sense to structure a game for certain audiences, kids, adults new to gaming. But if I can play past entries, see what I do or don't like/get used to and think it's going a good direction for changes I'm for it. When they dumb it down as an 'improvement' that's not it. Make it a spinoff/reboot not a 'sequel' when it's not it's a downgrade in some areas.

Retro games have had their issues too (besides all the more interesting ideas I see in older games, not nostaglia I can't get nostalgia for games I never played, it's not oh the console/this era it's just what ideas got left behind I care about that still feel fresh/never got their chance because oh this one was marketed better, to me that means what appealed and why were some revolutionary good, or so bland but sold well due to other factors. Cough can be said for many things but I mean who wants a fancy console/phone oh that's why only enthusiasts care about the more out there things and the rest are bland and boring).

I can see why they were refined/changed/removed nonsense design or difficulty while others no and are too newcomer 'only'. I can be a 'newcomer to a series' and still get what is going on. Why they dumb them down even further' is what bothers me and we 'newcomers/newcomers willing to enjoy what veterans do but they 'call it a a sequel' I will never understand' you annoy a fanbase without much flexibility it matter. If fans are ok with it sure, but sometimes I'm like this sucks regardless.

From Ratchet Rift Apart (safe/nostaglia missed potential, yes I liked the dramatic changes in past entries and am a long time fan so when I am sick of the core when a long time fan usually doesn't say that you know I have an odd perspective then the 'nostaglia' or 'safe/core elements' you'd usually expect from a long time fan),

Forza Motorsport (dumbing down too much, less flexibility, so boring the way they mix things around game to game to get worse and worse then better in some areas, even if some areas were better steps back others were, and new additions weren't exciting)

and Pikmin 4 recently (good additions I love the series added but the newcomer approach of 'quality of life/controls' is why I hate when AAA does things. Especially if I can't change the controls and have to deal with the new changes for that audience I don't like and the old/new good I do like in some games I can't enjoy as much.

Ruined motion controls when they were better before/strict snapping to any objects is annoying and not helpful,

the same issues the past games had of aiming with a controller that's why the wiimote motion aiming was so good now it sucks and is 'snap then move it around' that's so useless the motion controls might as well not even be implimented we aren't playing a boss battle, a turret segment or something with a need for 'small window to use them in' that the conrtols feel like they play like and doesn't suit the situation,

the past did better on a wiimote probably 3 Deluxe controls even and no way to change anything of quality of life/controls annoys me a lot and I've only played the beginning of it,

they messed up the guide of 'have more units of a colour to get more of them' you messed up a core mechanic that doesn't do that and gives me reds only and are red flower unit increase objects. Do you even checked your games throughly because I do. The new additions are good but the quality of life/controls suck/more newcomer features I can take or leave/padding and the 'fit in with everyone else' mentality annoys me. You had a good thing going just a few tweaks and we get too far in one audience direction 'WHY!").

They say this and I hope its true. I don't play much anymore and have not spent wasted monies on faulty packs in a while but I do enjoy creating sims and building. As for the mobile games, nah, I don't throw my money away like that