@ZeeGee It is legal to make a game of the same genre. But if EA has enough proof that they steal any ideas from the sims, then they'll take action. And since the creative director is a sims fan, they might even just accidentally borrow too much. It happens.
I can't think of a single game that is similar to The Sims in how it plays. Either that is an amazing truth given how well The Sims games have sold or they're too afraid to go against a juggernaut like EA. Pretty sure, now don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure that EA has quelled indie simulation games before they saw the light of day before. And so I wouldn't be surprised if this game just went poof.