My son is 22 and my daughter is 20. My son bought Sims 4 basegame at the same time I did when it was on sale for less than $10. He played MAYBE 20 hours, but I think it was a lot less than that. He plays lots of games. When he's not working or sleeping, he's playing games. He played Sims 3 also and for longer than he played 4, but would never buy the game himself. My daughter tried Sims 4 one time and said she prefers 3. And even if she did like it, she couldn't afford it anyway. Because she, like so many other millennials, are just trying to make ends meet. They really can't afford to buy stuff like this whether they want it or not.
I, on the other hand, have an empty nest now and am able to spend more money on myself and what I want. I played the Sims 1 basegame many years ago and loved it. However, I was not able to buy anymore Sims game until after Sims 3 was out. Even then I couldn't afford to spend very much on it which is why I didn't have very many store items until the last year of the store when I was able to get massive discounts. I cannot imagine having thousands of dollars to spent on a game within just a few years. I don't think I've even spend $1000 total between 1, 3, and 4.
So, I think they're marketing to those that have gobs of money to throw at them or millennials that still live at home and pay no bills.
