I think making the game free is smart move.

"bixters;c-18331255" wrote:
And the Sims 5, being free, will likely be even more bare bones than the Sims 4 at launch. How else are they going to make money? $10 for swimming pools, another $20 for toddlers, $40 to build your own house. They'll make their money back by nickel and diming for every little thing players want.
I think the Sims 5 base game will have the least amount of content of any Sims game. People might be be happy it's free at first, but then they'll realize how little content there is.
Just look at how much they charge for Sims 4 content. I can imagine it getting much, much worse.

This is what I'm expecting. I learned my lesson with Sims 4 if basic things like cars life stages and world editing are not there I won't even download it for free not getting another barebones base game that is not setup to ever expand in a meaningful way that always leaves you wanting more because at the core it's just shallow. The base game should be designed so expansion content is cohesive and builds upon it not so that it creates endless mini games if 1 expansion adds trash, animals, high school, ocean swimming, apartments the base game should have been preplanned to integrate those features into every world old or new.