The Sims 4's Target Audience «123456...Next Go

Simulator4

So while at work today and on break my supervisor saw me playing Sims FreePlay on my phone and said his son loved the sims and he had trouble getting him off the pc to do anything else. Also all of his son's friends love the game. I asked which version his son played and he said Sims 4. It was a gift from his grandmother. I then asked how old his son was and he said 11! So I guess EA is hoping to attract a whole new generation of simmers. Simmers who don't care about toddlers and open world and the color wheel because they were too young to know these features even existed in prior versions.

natashified

...
...

Jarsie9

Simulator4 wrote: »

So while at work today and on break my supervisor saw me playing Sims FreePlay on my phone and said his son loved the sims and he had trouble getting him off the pc to do anything else. Also all of his son's friends love the game. I asked which version his son played and he said Sims 4. It was a gift from his grandmother. I then asked how old his son was and he said 11! So I guess EA is hoping to attract a whole new generation of simmers. Simmers who don't care about toddlers and open world and the color wheel because they were too young to know these features even existed in prior versions.

And these Simmers will eventually outgrow The Sims 4 and move on to something else. At 11 years old, they won't appreciate the game in the same way an adult will, and they won't become attached to their Sims. They'll play until the novelty wears off, especially since there's no real violence in the game to speak of.

Alysha1988

I guess a lot of simmers who are adults now became attached to the game when they were around that age or younger and they still play today. I guess it's not fair to say all kids who pick up a game won't really stick around for years and sink tons of money into a series, but sometimes it seems like that's the kind of player EA is going for. Maybe not necessarily young kids, but just the a more freemium or mobile gaming type player and I feel like that's not the smartest plan.

Maybe other people sink hours upon hours and tons of money into mobile apps, but I just don't see the draw and I could never stick around and play a game as shallow as games you'll find in the app store for years, let alone a few minutes here and there for a couple of weeks. The sims 4 seems to lack the depth found in previous games, so it's a little... tablety to me.

NOVEMBER_11SARAH

The Sims has always appealed to young people, I played the Sims 1 at 7 years old, so I don't see how that's any different to a 11 year old playing the Sims 4. Most people I knew played the Sims in primary school, but don't anymore.

finefashionista

I started playing the Sims when I was about 9, and I'm still playing now 14 years later!

I think your style of play changes as you get older though, for the first few years I loved killing my Sims off in new inventive ways, locking them up and creating these 'weirder' stories they're all about now. Now I can spend hours just building and decorating a house without even entering live mode, and I like family play and creating more traditional and realistic stories.

I felt the Sims was marketed towards me as a younger player back then, and it's still marketed towards younger players now. I don't think the marketing angle has changed that much, but today's kids and the players who've grown up with the Sims have.

kwanzaabot

Jarsie9 wrote: »

And these Simmers will eventually outgrow The Sims 4 and move on to something else. At 11 years old, they won't appreciate the game in the same way an adult will, and they won't become attached to their Sims. They'll play until the novelty wears off, especially since there's no real violence in the game to speak of.

For your information I started playing the original Sims when I was about 13, and I'm still a fan at 28. Kids are just as capable of enjoying your super-difficult grownup life simulators as you are.

FosoSam

Simulator4 wrote: »

I then asked how old his son was and he said 11! So I guess EA is hoping to attract a whole new generation of simmers.

Yes.

Marketing genius.

Writin_Reg

finefashionista wrote: »

I started playing the Sims when I was about 9, and I'm still playing now 14 years later!

I think your style of play changes as you get older though, for the first few years I loved killing my Sims off in new inventive ways, locking them up and creating these 'weirder' stories they're all about now. Now I can spend hours just building and decorating a house without even entering live mode, and I like family play and creating more traditional and realistic stories.

I felt the Sims was marketed towards me as a younger player back then, and it's still marketed towards younger players now. I don't think the marketing angle has changed that much, but today's kids and the players who've grown up with the Sims have.

I was an adult when I started with Sims 1 over 15 years ago, but started over two dozen of my family members as Sims players - a few with sims 1 but most once sims 2 came out. In my case i bought base games for Christmas or birthday gifts and then the next Chritmas or birthdays I would give eps or sps - so I suppose i encouraged further play but can't say for sure as the kids always lit up when they received Sims eps - especially Sims 2 the most. Some of them did stray away when Sims 3 came out - but I think it was more about them being busy teens by then - as i had a half dozen 14-17 year old family members I bought gifts for - and it was made pretty clear they did not want Sims 3 - most of them preferred concert tickets to certain groups, ski lift tickets to local ski resorts, or gift cards to foot locker and the Gap among other stores. By Sims 4 - 3 of them left for their first year of college - so they just were not interested in a new Sims series. The other 3 that were interested are actually catching up finally with Sims 3 things. So in my family it varies very much by ages - as all the under 13 were very much interested in Sims 4 - but not one of them had ever played any Sims games before outside of trying Free play. All the long time simmers in the family who were all over their teen years when Sims 1 started are very much staying up with all the Sims games and are playing Sims 4 as well.

I honestly seem to be the only one unable to accept the toddlers being missing - even though several say they miss toddlers and want them back - they seem to have no problem playing Sims 4. Me on the other hand might play one night and then be unable to go back to Sims 4 for a week. I have also during woohoo weekend tried the romance and even allow a couple to get married and have a poof baby - but i became so tense about that baby possibly poofing into a 10 year old - I had to shut off aging so it did not happen. I only managed to play just the Saturday of Woohoo week-end and just could bring my self to go back and play that household since. So for me it is tramatic I guess.

But with kids and gaming - it all depends on where they are in life and what's going on around them - as I don't see them being heavy duty fan if they are real active in school things and sports and such - but I do think they all end up coming back to the games eventually if they were formerly big fans at some earlier point. At least that is how it goes around in my family.

chongjasmine

I was in my college when I played sim 1.

Proteus42

finefashionista wrote: »

I started playing the Sims when I was about 9, and I'm still playing now 14 years later!

...

For me, at that time, there still was something around that one might call The Sims V. 0
Little Computer People

EsnesNommoc

Lots of us play The Sims since we were kids though. :O If you look at it that way, then TS4's target audience hasn't changed, only the audience. :O

Andygal

Sims 1-3 could appeal to all age groups, Sims 4 will stop appealing to most of those kids when they get past the "WooHoo is funny, lololol" stage of life and EA will have to attract new kids to play. It's so foolish to squander a massive group of existing fans to court new ones that will get bored in a year or two. And the parents of new kids will be less likely to buy a game that will cost hundreds of dollars to get all the expansions and other content for it. If they wanted to attract kids to the Sims they should have used Freeplay to attract them, and then had a more mature Sims 4 for them to graduate to when they got bored of Freeplay.

xBob18

They want to attract tweeners.

SweetieTreats

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

blueasbutterfly

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

JoAnne65

One thing is for sure, the tone in their advertisements isn't aimed at me.
When I read the blog about the medical career it felt like I was reading the brochure of a toy store chain.

nanashi-sims

I don't think there is anything wrong with attracting a younger audience, but you don't have to dumb down a game for a younger audience. I think the infantile potty jokes are not because the product is marketed for children but because EA got tired of hearing fans complain about the lack of humour in TS3 and this was the best they could come up with. This is a talent issue, not a targeting issue

SweetieTreats

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

I dont know any 17 year olds in real life. 17 magazine is not written for 5 year olds. The age demographic is 10-17. I seriously doubt they are writing articles about dating and sex to target five year olds. If I saw a five year old reading the magazine, I would seriously side eye their parents.

Ben1010

Simulator4 wrote: »

So while at work today and on break my supervisor saw me playing Sims FreePlay on my phone and said his son loved the sims and he had trouble getting him off the pc to do anything else. Also all of his son's friends love the game. I asked which version his son played and he said Sims 4. It was a gift from his grandmother. I then asked how old his son was and he said 11! So I guess EA is hoping to attract a whole new generation of simmers. Simmers who don't care about toddlers and open world and the color wheel because they were too young to know these features even existed in prior versions.

I was about the same age when I started playing The Sims back in the 2000's and was also hooked for life. I'm a 23 year old man now (can't even believe I'm that much older now either)!

Sims 4 has made me fall in love with The Sims all over again as Sims 3 really ruined it for me as I'm not too fussed about open world or CASt as it kind of took away from the whole meaning of the game of it being a light hearted simulation focused on the Sims themselves, their personalities and characters and how they interact with each other and the world.

Open world just caused too many issues for me to fully love the game after the beauty of Sims 2.

blueasbutterfly

SweetieTreats wrote: »

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

I dont know any 17 year olds in real life. 17 magazine is not written for 5 year olds. The age demographic is 10-17. I seriously doubt they are writing articles about dating and sex to target five year olds. If I saw a five year old reading the magazine, I would seriously side eye their parents.

Well when I was growing up, that magazine was popular around ages 11-12, maybe into 13, after which it was uncool. People under a certain age tend to think it's cool to do "grown up" stuff. Companies have realized this and have started appearing to market things to an older audience than they really intend. Next time you have the tv on, check out commercials for kids' stuff. The kids in the commercials are almost always older than the ages they're marketing to, because the kids at home think it must be cool if older kids like it, and feel empowered by having such things.

mikmaker

Kids don't look at the age ratings anymore. I actually played the Sims 2: Pets when I was 9 and it was 12 years rating. The youngest kid that I know who had played the Sims 4 is 12 years old, but she doesn't own the game

Andygal

Yeah Seventeen magazine is aimed at young teens, definitely not 17 year olds.

SweetieTreats

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

I dont know any 17 year olds in real life. 17 magazine is not written for 5 year olds. The age demographic is 10-17. I seriously doubt they are writing articles about dating and sex to target five year olds. If I saw a five year old reading the magazine, I would seriously side eye their parents.

Well when I was growing up, that magazine was popular around ages 11-12, maybe into 13, after which it was uncool. People under a certain age tend to think it's cool to do "grown up" stuff. Companies have realized this and have started appearing to market things to an older audience than they really intend. Next time you have the tv on, check out commercials for kids' stuff. The kids in the commercials are almost always older than the ages they're marketing to, because the kids at home think it must be cool if older kids like it, and feel empowered by having such things.

You were still in the age range of the magazine's target audience. Your example about the magazine proves my point.

Also, most commercials for childen's products use kids in the target age range. I have yet to see a product for a 2-year old with a 5+ year old in the commercial. Have you even taken a marketing course? Do you know there are regulations on how products can be marketed to certain ages in the US?

blueasbutterfly

SweetieTreats wrote: »

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

I dont know any 17 year olds in real life. 17 magazine is not written for 5 year olds. The age demographic is 10-17. I seriously doubt they are writing articles about dating and sex to target five year olds. If I saw a five year old reading the magazine, I would seriously side eye their parents.

Well when I was growing up, that magazine was popular around ages 11-12, maybe into 13, after which it was uncool. People under a certain age tend to think it's cool to do "grown up" stuff. Companies have realized this and have started appearing to market things to an older audience than they really intend. Next time you have the tv on, check out commercials for kids' stuff. The kids in the commercials are almost always older than the ages they're marketing to, because the kids at home think it must be cool if older kids like it, and feel empowered by having such things.

You were still in the age range of the magazine's target audience. Your example about the magazine proves my point.

Also, most commercials for childen's products use kids in the target age range. I have yet to see a product for a 2-year old with a 5+ year old in the commercial. Have you even taken a marketing course? Do you know there are regulations on how products can be marketed to certain ages in the US?

How does it prove your point that the maximum age for 17 magazine is actually 17 and that far more of their readership is far younger? There is a huge difference between the ages of 2 and 4, much less 2 and 5 - just as there is a massive difference between ages 11 and 17. But I wasn't talking about toddlers anyway, toddler ads are directed at parents, so it's reasonable that the ads for those products would show children that look more like the parent's child who are enjoying the toy.

Regulations don't mean a thing when the word of the law is obeyed and the spirit is not. Do you really believe tobacco companies don't market to minors? Or that they really want their anti-smoking campaigns to work? Marketing classes and marketing regulations and marketing realities should never trump common sense. I'm not here to spew my credentials all over the place to try to claim that my observations are superior. It would make me look petty

Felicity

blueasbutterfly wrote: »

SweetieTreats wrote: »

This arguement sounds ridiculous. So their target audience is someone the game is not even rated for now? The game is rated T for teen so their target audience is not little kids who can't even purchase the game with their allowance in some stores.

How many 17 year olds do you know who read Seventeen magazine? It's intentionally targeted at kids who want to be cool and read a magazine for "older" kids.

That is an excellent point. 17 magazine has always targeted girls in the 10-13 year range, with 13 being a bit too old for it. Older teens, at least in my experience, prefer things aimed towards adults because no one really likes having their intelligence insulted.

Edit: I'm speaking as a mom of four teenagers, which means I'm around a lot of teens as someone always has friends over.