TS4 is still giving EA a huge amount of money and TS3 is still selling too which of course was EA’s main reason to make TS4 as it is.
But SPs and GPs seem to sell much better than the expensive EPs when they are sold as digital downloads. This is the change from earlier where EPs sold best on discs in the physical stores. Therefore TS5 likely only will get SPs and GPs which are cheaper to make and need less developers. Also EA has expanded Maxis to Finland where the Sims Mobile and TS4 for consoles mainly are made. So EA just need fewer devs in the main building for Maxis in Redwood.
@Erpe: You must not have seen the latest news on budget cuts and Gurus leaving or being shuffled around then.
Yes. But you need to look deeper:
1. The Sims 4 is selling very well according to http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/
2. EA has expanded Maxis with studios in Finland where the main work on both the Sims Mobile and on TS4 for consoles is done. (The reason was more expertise in mobile games and their invention of a new technology which made it much cheaper and easier to transfer PC games to consoles.)
3. EA has for a long time seemingly wanted less EPs and more SPs and GPs (small half-priced EPs) instead of the bigger EPs which sold better in the physical stores. The reason must be that cheaper packs sell better as digital downloads. So I think that EA plans to soon completely stop with EPs and only make SPs and GPs which means that EA will need fewer developers.
4. The market for PC games is still growing even though the market for mobile games is growing even faster according to many sources. https://www.pcgamesn.com/pc-game-sales-numbers-market-share-2017 is just one of the sources.
So nothing points in the direction that EA should consider to stop the series. But a lot of things point in the direction that EA wants to make more and cheaper packs instead of the big EPs - and this is for me to see the far most likely reason for EA to reduce the budgets and the number of devs just a little.
Your sources are dated after the ones I provided and I was under the impression that the OP was talking about The Sims on PC.
Sure. But for EA the Sims games for other platforms count too.
If C&D sold so well, why the budget cuts and the redistribution of gurus, especially ones that have been around since the beginning? To me that makes absolutely no sense.
They may be leaning toward a direction of no EPs but then doesn't that point to The Sims as we know it being over?
Not necessesarily. But TS4 still has got EPs too and likely will get one more. So TS4 won’t be the end and it is way too early to predict if TS5 will be the last big Sims game.
Without EPs everything need to be released in SPs, GPs and free updates. Will this work? I don’t know yet and I have to see TS5 before I have any chance to predict it.
Of course this is all speculation and we've still got EA Play to go, but it all seems a little suspect to me.
Agreed. We got disappointed by the Sims 4 basegame and we could very likely be disappointed by the Sims 5 basegame too. But why expect the worst?
Not if they own it and the rights. I hope they don't call it the Sims 5 though when it's made.
The franchise needs a complete clean reboot. Just call it THE SIMS and make it great. If this is the end of the franchise, EA will have killed it with the garbage game that was TS4.
Phones are fast becoming a mini PC and not to many want this huge thing sitting in there living room when they can have something that goes in there pocket. Sadly the Sims are headed the same as vinyl records.
Phones are fast becoming a mini PC and not to many want this huge thing sitting in there living room when they can have something that goes in there pocket. Sadly the Sims are headed the same as vinyl records.
Gamers still prefer bigger screens when they aren’t on the go. There are even investigations that show that mobile gamers often switch to playing on big tablets in the evenings when they are at home.
But the income from both PC games and from console games are increasing too. Only the income from browser games instead have become smaller.
Phones are fast becoming a mini PC and not to many want this huge thing sitting in there living room when they can have something that goes in there pocket. Sadly the Sims are headed the same as vinyl records.
If I want a "mobile game," I just use a laptop. Only casual gamers are interested in a real time tap and click games with better content hidden behind pay walls (btw that is the perfect description of sims mobile). I can sit in my bedroom, in my car, or anyway for that matter with my gaming laptop.
I would say a definite yes. End of everything to do with Sims PC. I think they have one last finished expansion pack... maybe seasons... to be released in fall. That’ll be the last release for any sims game. I wouldn’t have thought this until I saw who was laid off
Do you truly think that The Sims 4 is the end of the road for the PC franchise?
THIS ISN'T WHAT YOU WISH, BUT RATHER PREDICT
[Edited by EA_Mage to make topic forum appropriate.]
Sadly yes. TS4 has been a massive failure for The Sims franchise in every single way.
Honestly I never truly understood the people that love(d) this game. And now with Sims Mobile it's super dead as it is. I just read that lots of gurus are being moved or "fired" from TS Team. This either means that they are putting a big hiatus on the franchise, moving to a new itteration or sticking with just the mobile. It's sad really this franchise used to be huge. TS4 is ending in disgrace just like it started, and TS4's Seasons will likely never see the light of the day.
Honestly I played The Sims Mobile and it was so bad I got annoyed and uninstalled it after one week.
I guess it's time to say goodbye and just stick with TS2 and TS3. Thank god for TS3 even with all the bugs here and there.
I'm glad I stopped half way through buying all the mediocre and horribly planned, much less innovating, dlc for this game, otherwise I'd be even more 🐸🐸🐸🐸.
I don't think they will stop beating the horse once its dead, but I believe that this may be the end of "Sims" as most of us know it.
The release of Sims 4 was the "beginning of the end;" I still have to admit this thou I do think up until the last release to PC that Sims 4 was pretty decent, thou different.
I think we will see other stuff, other "remixes" and they will milk Sims in the future for all they can get out of it till it is a hollow shell of what it originally was.
Like many said, I'm really hoping they save it by starting over.
Sims 4 I like but it feels like an antidote to an addiction already, weaning me off Sims games. The more that's added, the more I am getting bored. Funny that but sad.
Yeah I think this is the end. It seems like the sims franchise is dying a slow, painful death. I see them milking the sims 4 for all its worth, maybe putting out another mobile game that won't do so well somewhere down the line, and then its over.
Have a super fantastic awesome splendid amazing day! -TheQxxn
This isn't confirmation, we don't know if this is a hoax.
Literally everyone could create a reddit account and trick people into believing they're an angry former SimGuru just to gain some attention. Just saying.
To summarize his great interview, you have these business individuals, sales, marketing, etc. who have ended up running EA/Maxis. The product people, the actual game developers that made EA games so great, were (and currently are) driven out in the interim. Now, EA Games is nothing more than these business people dictating what is happening, and what is funny is, it's barely working the way they had hoped. EA Games has no conception of what a good game is, and the excellent craftsmanship that EA/Maxis was once renowned for is gone.
That is why other franchises are excelling in content and player reception; the people running their companies are gamers at heart that know what makes a good game, and are not entirely out there for the money. It is a huge shame, but let's all be real here. Play The Sims 2 and then play The Sims 4. You can feel there is something missing -- and that is passion.
I find this thread really depressing (cause The Sims' current situation is depressing that is).
I don't know really... They could very possibly go all mobile, which would suck, or they will keep putting up packs for years... Either way, I don't see a TS5 happening anytime soon.
I highly doubt it... The Sims is literally one of EA's biggest selling game franchises (since it appeals to nearly every demographic of gamers, especially the casual ones, which is A LOT bigger than many may think). I'm sure there will be a Sims 5... however, whether or not it'll be an improvement from Sims 4 is another story.
I remember when Sims 4 was nothing but a rumor... many people thought Sims 3 would be the end, but here we are now... I don't think EA will suddenly give up on The Sims. Especially not when Sims 4 is doing much better than it did at launch.
If they learn from the mistakes from the launch/early days (such as not making players wait for basic age stages for 2+ years though we probably got way better toddlers than if they'd tried to shoehorn them into the base game at the last minute) that would be a big step. Having management that understands The Sims series and player base is another key factor. This isn't like the umpteenth FPS game out there; there's really nothing like it out there, and has a dedicated player base as long as they do things right, and having people in management who understand the game (or are willing to learn) should be top priority.
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Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
I would also like to say that I believe TS4 will last longer than previous installments, but with only a small drizzle of content. *Like when someone doesn't turn the sink off properly. I have reasons to believe, but still stand by this likely being the last. If not then The Sims 5 likely won't see the light of day for a long. These are just my guesses based on what I know.
*As for rather or not it would be just as annoying is debatable.
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TS4 is still giving EA a huge amount of money and TS3 is still selling too which of course was EA’s main reason to make TS4 as it is.
But SPs and GPs seem to sell much better than the expensive EPs when they are sold as digital downloads. This is the change from earlier where EPs sold best on discs in the physical stores. Therefore TS5 likely only will get SPs and GPs which are cheaper to make and need less developers. Also EA has expanded Maxis to Finland where the Sims Mobile and TS4 for consoles mainly are made. So EA just need fewer devs in the main building for Maxis in Redwood.
That's a good point -- with the expansion to overseas development they need fewer people in Redwood Shores. If the GPs continue to be done as well as they have now, with SPs to fill in content gaps, I could go without giant EPs. Maybe they sell the worlds separate from the GPs so you can customize your game with the type of worlds you want; maybe you don't want a city world and want more rural or suburban environments but you still want some of the amenities of an urban environment like graffiti or basketball or industrial construction; those items could be provided in a GP or SP, then you get an empty urban world (or maybe with a few NPCs) to fill up if you wish.
I could live without personal cars in a Sims game if we had actual public transportation and not just effects. Imagine a Sim walking down the street in Willow Creek and appearing to board the "trolley" to travel to another town. Or in San Myshuno walking to one of the train stations and start walking up the stairs to the platform, then the "teleport" to the destination (you can imagine the assorted transfers). Or kids walking to the corner to "board" a school bus and be whisked off screen to school.
Another thing to consider is that Sims 4 might be sticking around a while longer to provide content to port for the console versions.
Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
TS4 is still giving EA a huge amount of money and TS3 is still selling too which of course was EA’s main reason to make TS4 as it is.
But SPs and GPs seem to sell much better than the expensive EPs when they are sold as digital downloads. This is the change from earlier where EPs sold best on discs in the physical stores. Therefore TS5 likely only will get SPs and GPs which are cheaper to make and need less developers. Also EA has expanded Maxis to Finland where the Sims Mobile and TS4 for consoles mainly are made. So EA just need fewer devs in the main building for Maxis in Redwood.
@Erpe: You must not have seen the latest news on budget cuts and Gurus leaving or being shuffled around then.
Yes. But you need to look deeper:
1. The Sims 4 is selling very well according to http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/
2. EA has expanded Maxis with studios in Finland where the main work on both the Sims Mobile and on TS4 for consoles is done. (The reason was more expertise in mobile games and their invention of a new technology which made it much cheaper and easier to transfer PC games to consoles.)
3. EA has for a long time seemingly wanted less EPs and more SPs and GPs (small half-priced EPs) instead of the bigger EPs which sold better in the physical stores. The reason must be that cheaper packs sell better as digital downloads. So I think that EA plans to soon completely stop with EPs and only make SPs and GPs which means that EA will need fewer developers.
4. The market for PC games is still growing even though the market for mobile games is growing even faster according to many sources. https://www.pcgamesn.com/pc-game-sales-numbers-market-share-2017 is just one of the sources.
So nothing points in the direction that EA should consider to stop the series. But a lot of things point in the direction that EA wants to make more and cheaper packs instead of the big EPs - and this is for me to see the far most likely reason for EA to reduce the budgets and the number of devs just a little.
Your sources are dated after the ones I provided and I was under the impression that the OP was talking about The Sims on PC.
If C&D sold so well, why the budget cuts and the redistribution of gurus, especially ones that have been around since the beginning? To me that makes absolutely no sense.
They may be leaning toward a direction of no EPs but then doesn't that point to The Sims as we know it being over?
Of course this is all speculation and we've still got EA Play to go, but it all seems a little suspect to me.
Evidently there was a recent change in upper management -- any time upper management changes you get a ripple effect down below. For all we know, maybe it means they're starting to work on the next iteration of the Sims, and they're shuffling around talent till they know how much staff they'll need to actually produce the game. The structure for the next game engine might be contracted to a group outside of the Sims if they shift staff to other projects (like Mobile and Console) they at least have them on hand if needed, but they can't hang on to everyone. I've been through layoffs before both as an observer and as the one let go. (Ironically when I signed up for the temp agency, my first assignment was back to my old employer.)
Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
Comments
Not necessesarily. But TS4 still has got EPs too and likely will get one more. So TS4 won’t be the end and it is way too early to predict if TS5 will be the last big Sims game.
Without EPs everything need to be released in SPs, GPs and free updates. Will this work? I don’t know yet and I have to see TS5 before I have any chance to predict it.
Agreed. We got disappointed by the Sims 4 basegame and we could very likely be disappointed by the Sims 5 basegame too. But why expect the worst?
The franchise needs a complete clean reboot. Just call it THE SIMS and make it great. If this is the end of the franchise, EA will have killed it with the garbage game that was TS4.
But the income from both PC games and from console games are increasing too. Only the income from browser games instead have become smaller.
If I want a "mobile game," I just use a laptop. Only casual gamers are interested in a real time tap and click games with better content hidden behind pay walls (btw that is the perfect description of sims mobile). I can sit in my bedroom, in my car, or anyway for that matter with my gaming laptop.
Sadly yes. TS4 has been a massive failure for The Sims franchise in every single way.
Honestly I never truly understood the people that love(d) this game. And now with Sims Mobile it's super dead as it is. I just read that lots of gurus are being moved or "fired" from TS Team. This either means that they are putting a big hiatus on the franchise, moving to a new itteration or sticking with just the mobile. It's sad really this franchise used to be huge. TS4 is ending in disgrace just like it started, and TS4's Seasons will likely never see the light of the day.
Honestly I played The Sims Mobile and it was so bad I got annoyed and uninstalled it after one week.
I guess it's time to say goodbye and just stick with TS2 and TS3. Thank god for TS3 even with all the bugs here and there.
I'm glad I stopped half way through buying all the mediocre and horribly planned, much less innovating, dlc for this game, otherwise I'd be even more 🐸🐸🐸🐸.
The release of Sims 4 was the "beginning of the end;" I still have to admit this thou I do think up until the last release to PC that Sims 4 was pretty decent, thou different.
I think we will see other stuff, other "remixes" and they will milk Sims in the future for all they can get out of it till it is a hollow shell of what it originally was.
Like many said, I'm really hoping they save it by starting over.
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The Sims 4 General DiscussionWHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
This isn't confirmation, we don't know if this is a hoax.
Literally everyone could create a reddit account and trick people into believing they're an angry former SimGuru just to gain some attention. Just saying.
To summarize his great interview, you have these business individuals, sales, marketing, etc. who have ended up running EA/Maxis. The product people, the actual game developers that made EA games so great, were (and currently are) driven out in the interim. Now, EA Games is nothing more than these business people dictating what is happening, and what is funny is, it's barely working the way they had hoped. EA Games has no conception of what a good game is, and the excellent craftsmanship that EA/Maxis was once renowned for is gone.
That is why other franchises are excelling in content and player reception; the people running their companies are gamers at heart that know what makes a good game, and are not entirely out there for the money. It is a huge shame, but let's all be real here. Play The Sims 2 and then play The Sims 4. You can feel there is something missing -- and that is passion.
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I don't know really... They could very possibly go all mobile, which would suck, or they will keep putting up packs for years... Either way, I don't see a TS5 happening anytime soon.
If they learn from the mistakes from the launch/early days (such as not making players wait for basic age stages for 2+ years though we probably got way better toddlers than if they'd tried to shoehorn them into the base game at the last minute) that would be a big step. Having management that understands The Sims series and player base is another key factor. This isn't like the umpteenth FPS game out there; there's really nothing like it out there, and has a dedicated player base as long as they do things right, and having people in management who understand the game (or are willing to learn) should be top priority.
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
*As for rather or not it would be just as annoying is debatable.
My Simming site: https://peachrenardssims.wordpress.com/
That's a good point -- with the expansion to overseas development they need fewer people in Redwood Shores. If the GPs continue to be done as well as they have now, with SPs to fill in content gaps, I could go without giant EPs. Maybe they sell the worlds separate from the GPs so you can customize your game with the type of worlds you want; maybe you don't want a city world and want more rural or suburban environments but you still want some of the amenities of an urban environment like graffiti or basketball or industrial construction; those items could be provided in a GP or SP, then you get an empty urban world (or maybe with a few NPCs) to fill up if you wish.
I could live without personal cars in a Sims game if we had actual public transportation and not just effects. Imagine a Sim walking down the street in Willow Creek and appearing to board the "trolley" to travel to another town. Or in San Myshuno walking to one of the train stations and start walking up the stairs to the platform, then the "teleport" to the destination (you can imagine the assorted transfers). Or kids walking to the corner to "board" a school bus and be whisked off screen to school.
Another thing to consider is that Sims 4 might be sticking around a while longer to provide content to port for the console versions.
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
Evidently there was a recent change in upper management -- any time upper management changes you get a ripple effect down below. For all we know, maybe it means they're starting to work on the next iteration of the Sims, and they're shuffling around talent till they know how much staff they'll need to actually produce the game. The structure for the next game engine might be contracted to a group outside of the Sims if they shift staff to other projects (like Mobile and Console) they at least have them on hand if needed, but they can't hang on to everyone. I've been through layoffs before both as an observer and as the one let go. (Ironically when I signed up for the temp agency, my first assignment was back to my old employer.)
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
"New Maxis Project" = Sims 5?
I don't think it's Spore or SimCity...