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Alchemist
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Sep 2022 at 9:44 PM
The Sims 4 Free
Looks like they finally priced the game right.

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/s...fvCxwXpb5d6DH-4+

Electronic Arts and Maxis have announced a major change for The Sims 4. While the various release packs and so on will remain available to purchase, The Sims 4 base game is being made available for free starting on October 18th. Interested players on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One can grab it on that date for free and start playing however they like.
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 14th Sep 2022 at 10:14 PM Last edited by Casimir : 14th Sep 2022 at 10:48 PM.
It is like getting a broken car for free... You have it, but you cannot drive it and you can only expect that it will be fixed (either by you or somebody else).

EDIT: I feel like this is a promotion of TS4 because I heard somewhere that free stuff makes people buy (in this case expansion packs and gamepacks and stuff packs and kits).
Scholar
#3 Old 15th Sep 2022 at 1:36 AM
It's basically a free to play scenario. They know if they can get you playing the base game, you're likely to spend money for the packs, which is where the real money is at.

Funny, it already had the (lack of) quality of a typical free to play game, now it's just official.

♫ Keeping this here until EA gives us a proper playable woodwind/brass instrument ♫
For now, though, my decorative Bassoon conversion for TS4. =)
Field Researcher
#4 Old 15th Sep 2022 at 1:46 AM
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sims 4 was the runaway casual gamer success story they will never be able to replicate. The game is very popular with people who want a simple doll maker/house builder storytelling game and could care less for anything to do with simulation.

Going free to play doesn’t really benefit players much. Maybe those who didn’t think it was worth $60, or $40 or even the permanent $20 price tag. Idk, but EA is sure to get more casual players to download it for free and buy the cheap kits and maybe an expansion.

To me this feels like EA setting the stage for both Sims 4 and Sims 5 to exist at the same time. Sims 4 becomes the cheap service model game it was always intended to be and Sims 5 costs money and is viewed as a premium game. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Sims 4 is 8 years old, way too old for a Sims game, but we can see they’re trying to get every last drop of blood out of it. Free to play is the only way they can keep the game around and have it make sense with the cheap little kit drops every other month. I don’t think the Sims 5 will be free to play. I think that’s just to retain the abundance of casual players who barely play the game unless a new kit drops.
Scholar
#5 Old 15th Sep 2022 at 2:06 AM
I'll take a free Kit though, but it would be better if we choose our own kit than some desert one I've never heard of.
Field Researcher
#6 Old 16th Sep 2022 at 2:31 AM
24 hours after the announcement that Sims 4 will become free to play industry “insider” Jeff Grub has stated that sources tell him The Sims 5 initial game announcement will be coming very soon likely even next month at The Sims Summit live presentation.

Very interesting to say the least. I said earlier this year that Sims 5 was not far off. EA executives have been especially chattery about it this year, even in the vaguest of ways. To me that says the game isn’t far off at all. If we see an announcement in October it will presumably not include a release date, maybe a 2023 window with the possibility of that extending into 2024. Sims 4 becoming free to play seems to be a launching pad for the follow up game to ensure the player base is as expansive as possible to avoid early adoption issues like what we saw with Sims 4.
Test Subject
#7 Old 16th Sep 2022 at 6:17 AM
Quote: Originally posted by drake_mccarty
24 hours after the announcement that Sims 4 will become free to play industry “insider” Jeff Grub has stated that sources tell him The Sims 5 initial game announcement will be coming very soon likely even next month at The Sims Summit live presentation.

Very interesting to say the least. I said earlier this year that Sims 5 was not far off. EA executives have been especially chattery about it this year, even in the vaguest of ways. To me that says the game isn’t far off at all. If we see an announcement in October it will presumably not include a release date, maybe a 2023 window with the possibility of that extending into 2024. Sims 4 becoming free to play seems to be a launching pad for the follow up game to ensure the player base is as expansive as possible to avoid early adoption issues like what we saw with Sims 4.


But I wonder, if The Sims 5 is going to be released Next Year for example, will the player base really quickly jump into The Sims 5? Especially since if it is a premium title that will cost $60. I mean, people might even say to themselves that, why would I buy for The Sims 5 that lacks content if The Sims 4 is free, and I can just buy the DLC's rather than waiting for The Sims 5?
Test Subject
#8 Old 16th Sep 2022 at 6:30 AM
Quote: Originally posted by drake_mccarty
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sims 4 was the runaway casual gamer success story they will never be able to replicate. The game is very popular with people who want a simple doll maker/house builder storytelling game and could care less for anything to do with simulation.

Going free to play doesn’t really benefit players much. Maybe those who didn’t think it was worth $60, or $40 or even the permanent $20 price tag. Idk, but EA is sure to get more casual players to download it for free and buy the cheap kits and maybe an expansion.

To me this feels like EA setting the stage for both Sims 4 and Sims 5 to exist at the same time. Sims 4 becomes the cheap service model game it was always intended to be and Sims 5 costs money and is viewed as a premium game. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Sims 4 is 8 years old, way too old for a Sims game, but we can see they’re trying to get every last drop of blood out of it. Free to play is the only way they can keep the game around and have it make sense with the cheap little kit drops every other month. I don’t think the Sims 5 will be free to play. I think that’s just to retain the abundance of casual players who barely play the game unless a new kit drops.


I agree. The Sims 4 and The Sims 5 would be likely to coexist together. We also have to take note that when Simcity 5 was released, it was a total failure that ended the mainline franchise. If they are going to take risks and transform The Sims 5 into a multiplayer which is what the executives always hinted at their financial calls, then the Sims 5 could end the Franchise.

Looking at what is happening right now, I don't think EA could afford loosing one of their franchise where it's players will buy anything. DICE lost it's major key developers, and Battlefront Franchise has no future. Battlefield is on the crash right now as the game tanks. Bioware has lost its Montreal Studio, Ended support for Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem, and the only thing that would keep Bioware alive is if Dragon Age 4 was successful. But even that was uncertain as the original Dragon Age 4 got rebooted when Anthem was released. Ghost Games was dissolved and Criterion was reinstated for the next Need For Speed in which the community is already being worried especially since the game literally stopped it's development to move Criterion into Battlefield 2042, and new reports are basically showing how "Anime" effects are going to be the new style of the next NFS. Madden wa a disaster this year, with football players even talking about the game negatively.

Basically, the only live service that is saving EA right now are The Sims, FIFA, and Apex Legends. If They stopped The Sims 4 because of the Launch of The Sims 5 (and it is a multiplayer game) then I can already expect that within a year, EA is going to get major losess, especially if the next Dragon Age or NFS was below expectations.

At least, that is why I believe that EA would not take the risk to stop TS4 altogether.
Field Researcher
#9 Old 16th Sep 2022 at 10:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by KidTheMagician
But I wonder, if The Sims 5 is going to be released Next Year for example, will the player base really quickly jump into The Sims 5? Especially since if it is a premium title that will cost $60. I mean, people might even say to themselves that, why would I buy for The Sims 5 that lacks content if The Sims 4 is free, and I can just buy the DLC's rather than waiting for The Sims 5?


When have sims players not thrown their money at something shiny and new? $60 is standard price for every new non-Sony game. It’s certainly not a turn off for players. I’m also not really understanding how Sims 4 becoming free to play impacts the player base buying the new game. They already have it. What does a game they already own becoming free do for them?
Mad Poster
#10 Old 17th Sep 2022 at 12:15 PM
I will be very curious to learn about a Sims 5, BUT if it is solely multiplayer it is a hard pass for me.
Inventor
#11 Old 18th Sep 2022 at 2:15 AM
The base game being free doesn't surprise me. It was super cheap when discounted (like $5), and they already gave it away for free in the past. Most people who wanted to play TS4 have already bought the base game or are NEVER going to buy it, and they're probably making more money off of its DLC, so it makes sense that they are turning it into a F2P game. Some of the new players are probably going to buy DLC, and maybe get hooked and continue buying more DLC.

The Kit they're giving for free is ugly AF. Probably my least favorite kit so far, with those chunky, low-poly, barely textured objects. But I guess they say "never look a gift horse in the mouth" for a reason.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 18th Sep 2022 at 5:18 PM
I can see why they’d do it, the basegame is nearly worthless at this point, and like others say, DLC sales are what EA is after at this point.

One can only hope that this represents EA wringing out some last few dollars from TS4 before the TS5 gets announced in the next couple of years...
Mad Poster
#13 Old 16th Nov 2022 at 12:23 AM Last edited by jje1000 : 16th Nov 2022 at 12:59 AM.
TS4 has a new promo video with a bunch of influencers/creators, including:
  • Anitta, global pop star and the first Brazilian artist to win an MTV Video Music Award,
  • Alok, writer and performer who challenges the gender binary,
  • Magnet, queer creative who makes vibrant cakes with playful floral elements; and
  • Bob’s Dance Shop, an entertainment group combining dance, music and fashion to spread joy and encourage self-expression.


As the game is now free, advertising has now turned towards making it trendy over niche for the casual masses- this attempt to appeal to the current forefronts of culture and gender/sexuality is very much a far cry from the rather stodgy yet more substantial TS2-TS3 commercials aimed at simmers (TS1 is a bit of an exemption due to its tv ads, but one can argue that those were equally niche.

Some speculate that TS4 may get a popstar/band EP, or customizable plumbbobs in an update.
Instructor
#14 Old 25th Nov 2022 at 7:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000
TS4 has a new promo video with a bunch of influencers/creators, including:
  • Anitta, global pop star and the first Brazilian artist to win an MTV Video Music Award,
  • Alok, writer and performer who challenges the gender binary,
  • Magnet, queer creative who makes vibrant cakes with playful floral elements; and
  • Bob’s Dance Shop, an entertainment group combining dance, music and fashion to spread joy and encourage self-expression.


Never heard any of them. I'd totally be interested in getting back to the 4 if only they'd also teamed up with metal bands like Architects or GOJIRA.

LGBTQ+. Fans of RAMMSTEIN, GOJIRA and Architects. Check out my favorite YouTube channels: Second Thought, Adam Something, Climate Town, and Not Just Bikes
Mad Poster
#15 Old 25th Nov 2022 at 11:02 PM
Quote: Originally posted by legacyoffailures
Never heard any of them. I'd totally be interested in getting back to the 4 if only they'd also teamed up with metal bands like Architects or GOJIRA.


My thoughts/interest about 4 have zero to do with who the influencers are or who they use in ads. They may work to attract some folks, especially the 12s, but not me. I judge the game for what it is and not what I am told by influencers or who is in a video.
Mad Poster
#16 Old 25th Nov 2022 at 11:31 PM
Quote: Originally posted by jje1000

Some speculate that TS4 may get a popstar/band EP, or customizable plumbbobs in an update.



Or showtime, but narrowed down as another influencer-pop star type of deal.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english.
Instructor
#17 Old 26th Nov 2022 at 6:59 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SneakyWingPhoenix
Or showtime, but narrowed down as another influencer-pop star type of deal.


oh please, no more cringey TikTok influencer.

LGBTQ+. Fans of RAMMSTEIN, GOJIRA and Architects. Check out my favorite YouTube channels: Second Thought, Adam Something, Climate Town, and Not Just Bikes
Top Secret Researcher
#18 Old 27th Nov 2022 at 11:35 PM
I could be interested in a Bands pack. Influencers? Hell no.
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