The Future of the Sims

The Values that Shape the Sims.

I'm glad this element won't change, and it's good to see this in the face of all that uncertainty with the buyout. I definitely believe the people working on Sims 4 are genuinely concerned about inclusivity, and that hasn't changed. That said, I'm still not sure what to make of this post. A lot of this is just vague words about "giving players tools to be creative." It sounds more like platitudes. They even tiptoed around why people were concerned about this in the first place. I have a lot of critiques and concerns about how they go about inclusivity (or a lack of it, in some cases), but that's just me going into a rant. 

So yeah. Like the idea of the post, hate the execution. This isn't anything new or different from the last few posts they made about the subject.

What We’re Working On

The "next evolution stuff" is vague. Like, what does any of this mean? How will stuff on multiple platforms connect? Is it a real connective experience, or just corporate speak for being able to play a bunch of unconnected games that don't do anything for each other? (Aside from the inevitable cross-promotional FOMO items designed to incentivize people to sign up for multiple games.) 

I know they don't want to go into things that are still in development and subject to change. Or they don't want to overshadow Sims 4 and doom its sales. Or they don't want to ruin the surprise. But in the age of leaks, rumors and misinformation, I feel like they should have done more to either be more transparent and confirm things, or officially deny misinformation. 

The one thing they do say is that The Sims 4 isn't going anywhere and will continue to get content. But from what I see with my own eyes, it does look like things are going that route. Last year we got 3 EPs and like 200000000 kits. The only basegame updates were EP leftovers - only two of them had actual gameplay, and one of them was just a reskin of an old lot type with some minor tweaks, that wasn't made with the basegame in mind because it wanted us to have a lot of playground equipment. Heck, reading this, and they don't talk about Sims 4 much specifically. I care more about The Sims 4's future, than the future of a bunch of other games that won't come out for years. 

Project Rene

Skip.

Also, they say they appreciate us, they talk about keeping their commitment to inclusion, and they talk about future projects. But I really wish they would emphasize listening to players, too. The game is becoming a FOMO-driven mess with less and less focus on gameplay, and more focus on buying kits. It's only gotten worse over time. I know that wasn't part of the post's mission statement, but transparency is a big part of this, and we're not getting a lot of it. It's hard to accept talk about appreciating players, only to double-down on anti-player tactics.