The first Sims game was released in February of 2005, which means that the series celebrates 25 years next month. I fully expect EA to acknowledge this anniversary in some way, especially since The Sims is a reliable money maker for the company with players who are willing to give extra content a try, even if the reviews for a pack aren’t the best. The question is how EA might choose to celebrate The Sims turning 25, and my guess is that the most likely way will be through a franchise-wide sale or a free expansion. However, I have a wishlist of other ways I’d love to see used as a method to celebrate.
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Of course, a sale or a free expansion is always nice, but those usually only affect The Sims 4 and sometimes The Sims 3. Since it’s the 25-year anniversary for the original Sims, the way it’s celebrated should break away from standard sales. As such, I propose a few ways that I believe would both honor this milestone and leave players excited.
Make The Sims More Accessible or Remaster the Games
Currently, it’s almost impossible to play The Sims. You either need to have old hardware that was used to run the game during its prime, or you need to resort to methods that I’m not going to endorse here. Because of this, an anniversary as big as 25 years is perfect for releasing an updated version of The Sims that’s capable of running on modern hardware, or remastering The Sims for an optimal experience on modern systems.
I believe that this would be the most fitting way to celebrate The Sims and the franchise it was able to become over the last 25 years. However, I don’t anticipate that it’ll actually happen. It’s common enough to lose the code used in older games, which adds to the difficulties that already come with remastering or updating them. As a result, I wouldn’t be surprised if EA would need to remake the game from scratch in order to release it again, and I don’t know if the company would decide that it’s worth the effort required. Still, I can hope that it’ll happen one day.
Introduce a Complete Edition for The Sims 3
Both The Sims and The Sims 2 have complete editions, where you purchase the base game and all of its expansions together. It’s been 10 years since The Sims 4 became the latest base game, but there still isn’t a bundle option for The Sims 3 that makes it more affordable for players who might not have had the means to play it in the past, or those who are unwilling to spend about $400 on an older game and its expansions. Additionally, The Sims 5 isn’t going to be a replacement for The Sims 4, and instead seems like it’ll be more of a spinoff, so we’ll probably never see a complete edition for The Sims 4 as long as it remains the primary base game.
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If EA doesn’t want to do a complete edition, then even grouping The Sims 3 and its expansions into smaller bundles that reduce the overall price would be a great step. When you buy the packs as they’re released, it doesn’t feel like a big financial burden. Now, however, going back to The Sims 3 and seeing that you would need to pay about $400 to pick up all the content it has to offer is a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if it leads to players deciding not to purchase it, and I think that introducing some sort of bundle system that lowers the overall price would be a nice way to celebrate a franchise milestone.
Announce a New Spinoff with RPG Elements
It’s no secret that I love The Sims Medieval and constantly wish that this spinoff would be given new content. However, I would also be okay with a new spinoff being brought into the franchise, but it needs to have the slight RPG elements that made The Sims Medieval so charming.
Basically, you have a kingdom instead of a neighborhood, and there are vacant roles that you can fill with your Sims, including spy, king, and physician. When you play each role, you have a different set of tasks to do, similar to the tasks you see in The Sims 4’s active careers. These roles and their tasks collectively tell a story about the kingdom and its mysteries, which makes it more fun to explore and see how much there is to discover.
Another spinoff like this, or a remaster and new content for The Sims Medieval, could bring new players to the franchise since it would also appeal to players who want a lighter RPG experience, and one that doesn’t require you to put in a lot of hours or dedicate your time to quests or gathering resources. It was a great blend of life simulation and RPG elements, and a new spinoff like this would be a welcome surprise to celebrate 25 years.
I don’t know how EA will celebrate The Sims turning 25, but I hope that it’s something beyond a sale or update about the movie. I believe that the best way to celebrate the game that started this massive series is to look at the past and what paved the way for games like The Sims 4 to be able to thrive now. It’s the best time to try something a bit different.
