Is The Sims 4 Endgame?

I said yes, but really, I think it could go either way right now. If this is the end, they sure picked a horrible note to go out on :/

"Erpe;c-16440931" wrote:

"aricarai;c-16440909" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16440850" wrote:
No, and the reason can be seen on http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/

TS4 is still giving EA a huge amount of money and TS3 is still selling too which of course was EA’s main reason to make TS4 as it is.

But SPs and GPs seem to sell much better than the expensive EPs when they are sold as digital downloads. This is the change from earlier where EPs sold best on discs in the physical stores. Therefore TS5 likely only will get SPs and GPs which are cheaper to make and need less developers. Also EA has expanded Maxis to Finland where the Sims Mobile and TS4 for consoles mainly are made. So EA just need fewer devs in the main building for Maxis in Redwood.

@Erpe: You must not have seen the latest news on budget cuts and Gurus leaving or being shuffled around then.

http://simscommunity.info/2018/04/19/several-maxis-veterans-working-on-the-sims-4-got-laid-off-by-ea-for-budget-reasons/

https://simsvip.com/2018/04/19/maxis-update-multiple-sims-4-simgurus-fired-others-moved-to-mobile-teams/

Yes. But you need to look deeper:
1. The Sims 4 is selling very well according to http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/
2. EA has expanded Maxis with studios in Finland where the main work on both the Sims Mobile and on TS4 for consoles is done. (The reason was more expertise in mobile games and their invention of a new technology which made it much cheaper and easier to transfer PC games to consoles.)
3. EA has for a long time seemingly wanted less EPs and more SPs and GPs (small half-priced EPs) instead of the bigger EPs which sold better in the physical stores. The reason must be that cheaper packs sell better as digital downloads. So I think that EA plans to soon completely stop with EPs and only make SPs and GPs which means that EA will need fewer developers.
4. The market for PC games is still growing even though the market for mobile games is growing even faster according to many sources. https://www.pcgamesn.com/pc-game-sales-numbers-market-share-2017 is just one of the sources.

So nothing points in the direction that EA should consider to stop the series. But a lot of things point in the direction that EA wants to make more and cheaper packs instead of the big EPs - and this is for me to see the far most likely reason for EA to reduce the budgets and the number of devs just a little.

Your sources are dated after the ones I provided and I was under the impression that the OP was talking about The Sims on PC.

If C&D sold so well, why the budget cuts and the redistribution of gurus, especially ones that have been around since the beginning? To me that makes absolutely no sense.

They may be leaning toward a direction of no EPs but then doesn't that point to The Sims as we know it being over?

Of course this is all speculation and we've still got EA Play to go, but it all seems a little suspect to me.

I really hope not, but it seems so, and it's really sad and depressing. I will never play sims on mobile. Just never.

Hmmm, its be going on a while! Why stop now? I think gaming is at an all time high on all platforms and Sims on a whole seems to be a popular franchise around the world. When you see how quickly people transition from one game to the next, I would suspect, as long as there is a market for it..... and people to buy the goods.... they will keep going. Let's hope!!

"aricarai;c-16441124" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16440931" wrote:

"aricarai;c-16440909" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16440850" wrote:
No, and the reason can be seen on http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/

TS4 is still giving EA a huge amount of money and TS3 is still selling too which of course was EA’s main reason to make TS4 as it is.

But SPs and GPs seem to sell much better than the expensive EPs when they are sold as digital downloads. This is the change from earlier where EPs sold best on discs in the physical stores. Therefore TS5 likely only will get SPs and GPs which are cheaper to make and need less developers. Also EA has expanded Maxis to Finland where the Sims Mobile and TS4 for consoles mainly are made. So EA just need fewer devs in the main building for Maxis in Redwood.

@Erpe: You must not have seen the latest news on budget cuts and Gurus leaving or being shuffled around then.

http://simscommunity.info/2018/04/19/several-maxis-veterans-working-on-the-sims-4-got-laid-off-by-ea-for-budget-reasons/

https://simsvip.com/2018/04/19/maxis-update-multiple-sims-4-simgurus-fired-others-moved-to-mobile-teams/

Yes. But you need to look deeper:
1. The Sims 4 is selling very well according to http://simscommunity.info/2018/01/31/ea-talks-about-player-growth-with-the-sims-4-cats-dogs-console-release/
2. EA has expanded Maxis with studios in Finland where the main work on both the Sims Mobile and on TS4 for consoles is done. (The reason was more expertise in mobile games and their invention of a new technology which made it much cheaper and easier to transfer PC games to consoles.)
3. EA has for a long time seemingly wanted less EPs and more SPs and GPs (small half-priced EPs) instead of the bigger EPs which sold better in the physical stores. The reason must be that cheaper packs sell better as digital downloads. So I think that EA plans to soon completely stop with EPs and only make SPs and GPs which means that EA will need fewer developers.
4. The market for PC games is still growing even though the market for mobile games is growing even faster according to many sources. https://www.pcgamesn.com/pc-game-sales-numbers-market-share-2017 is just one of the sources.

So nothing points in the direction that EA should consider to stop the series. But a lot of things point in the direction that EA wants to make more and cheaper packs instead of the big EPs - and this is for me to see the far most likely reason for EA to reduce the budgets and the number of devs just a little.

Your sources are dated after the ones I provided and I was under the impression that the OP was talking about The Sims on PC.

Sure. But for EA the Sims games for other platforms count too.

If C&D sold so well, why the budget cuts and the redistribution of gurus, especially ones that have been around since the beginning? To me that makes absolutely no sense.

They may be leaning toward a direction of no EPs but then doesn't that point to The Sims as we know it being over?

Not necessesarily. But TS4 still has got EPs too and likely will get one more. So TS4 won’t be the end and it is way too early to predict if TS5 will be the last big Sims game.

Without EPs everything need to be released in SPs, GPs and free updates. Will this work? I don’t know yet and I have to see TS5 before I have any chance to predict it.

Of course this is all speculation and we've still got EA Play to go, but it all seems a little suspect to me.

Agreed. We got disappointed by the Sims 4 basegame and we could very likely be disappointed by the Sims 5 basegame too. But why expect the worst? ;)

"Hermitgirl;c-16440227" wrote:
Not if they own it and the rights. I hope they don't call it the Sims 5 though when it's made.

The franchise needs a complete clean reboot. Just call it THE SIMS and make it great. If this is the end of the franchise, EA will have killed it with the garbage game that was TS4.

"Bluebeard45;c-16441171" wrote:
Phones are fast becoming a mini PC and not to many want this huge thing sitting in there living room when they can have something that goes in there pocket. Sadly the Sims are headed the same as vinyl records.

Gamers still prefer bigger screens when they aren’t on the go. There are even investigations that show that mobile gamers often switch to playing on big tablets in the evenings when they are at home.

But the income from both PC games and from console games are increasing too. Only the income from browser games instead have become smaller.

I fear it is. At least in the way I want the game to be (and even Sims 4 isn’t that anymore).

I would say a definite yes. End of everything to do with Sims PC. I think they have one last finished expansion pack... maybe seasons... to be released in fall. That’ll be the last release for any sims game. I wouldn’t have thought this until I saw who was laid off

"Wulfsimmer;d-938817" wrote:
Do you truly think that The Sims 4 is the end of the road for the PC franchise?

THIS ISN'T WHAT YOU WISH, BUT RATHER PREDICT

Sadly yes. TS4 has been a massive failure for The Sims franchise in every single way.

Honestly I never truly understood the people that love(d) this game. And now with Sims Mobile it's super dead as it is. I just read that lots of gurus are being moved or "fired" from TS Team. This either means that they are putting a big hiatus on the franchise, moving to a new itteration or sticking with just the mobile. It's sad really this franchise used to be huge. TS4 is ending in disgrace just like it started, and TS4's Seasons will likely never see the light of the day.

Honestly I played The Sims Mobile and it was so bad I got annoyed and uninstalled it after one week.

I guess it's time to say goodbye and just stick with TS2 and TS3. Thank god for TS3 even with all the bugs here and there.

I'm glad I stopped half way through buying all the mediocre and horribly planned, much less innovating, dlc for this game, otherwise I'd be even more pissed.