Sims Players: 64% cis female, 21% cis male, 17% fluid/trans; 45% non-heterosexual

I'd be interested in exactly how this information is going to be used for future game design, because to me it seems a bit limiting to just say X amount of people are Cis female/male, X amount are trans, etc. Gender identity does not always line up with an individual's gender expression or gendered interests (that way lies gender essentialism). For example, I am a cisgender woman, my Sims game is 100% occult gameplay, I prefer my Sims families to be happy and drama free, and I don't tend to differentiate between male and female interests of careers when it comes to my Sims interests or work. I have female sims who have more traditionally masculine interests, male sims with more traditionally female interests, and vice versa. If EA is marketing towards cisgendered women in a gender essentialist manner (girls want girly things) then I would find that incredibly limiting. As it is the lack of content for male and masculine presenting Sims is already something I find frustrating and limiting.

"AncientMuse;c-18293391" wrote:


As a side note:
Because of the more family/kid friendly direction of the Sims 4, I'm betting the next iteration of the game (Sims 5) will be even more geared towards that same demographic and will have hardly any (if at all) supernatural/occult/hi-jinks type of gameplay. We're already seeing that partially play out in the Sims 4 with such a lack of occult/supernatural DLC's, the reduction of humourous consequences.... and more importantly, the nerfing out of these things when they have been added because of the larger, louder audience demands on social media to get rid of them.

Sims 4 suffers from the most major case of feature creep I've ever seen in the gaming industry. By the time Sims 5 comes out, Sims 4 will have so many features, expansions, packs, etc that it will greatly overshadow Sims 5 unless they introduce some truly unique and innovating content on release, bares bones at the start wont cut it.

When was this survey conducted? How did the participants find it?

Anyway I'm kinda one of the minority players according to this survey. Ace and trans. We're out here.

"AncientMuse;c-18293391" wrote:
As a side note:
Because of the more family/kid friendly direction of the Sims 4, I'm betting the next iteration of the game (Sims 5) will be even more geared towards that same demographic and will have hardly any (if at all) supernatural/occult/hi-jinks type of gameplay. We're already seeing that partially play out in the Sims 4 with such a lack of occult/supernatural DLC's, the reduction of humourous consequences.... and more importantly, the nerfing out of these things when they have been added because of the larger, louder audience demands on social media to get rid of them.

I think the 'us vs them' problem that has plagued the Sims 4 since the beginning is going to get resolved in the Sims 5 by simply omitting one side altogether. :|

Just my $.02 worth.

As an occult player, I hate that you're probably right... :/

"Magdaleena;c-18293430" wrote:
When was this survey conducted? How did the participants find it?

Anyway I'm kinda one of the minority players according to this survey. Ace and trans. We're out here.

As an occult player, I hate that you're probably right... :/

You aren't alone. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community too. I love occults, but I'm more concerned with the efforts of a minority of vocal bigots to erase anyone and anything LGBTQ+ or inclusive. Will EA stand by our side as they have so far, flawed as that stand may be, or will they cave to the bigots? They have stayed the course and included LGBTQ+ sims for as long as I can remember and I hope that never changes.

as young adult gal I would like to take this opportunity to remind sims team that young gals love dragons and historical romance dramas ✨️

we also love witch hats and bands and hobbies

many of us also love men even if it might seem strange so it would be lovely to be able to create some more types of men

we also love watching crime stuff so burglars would fit into our sim universe splendidly

"AncientMuse;c-18293391" wrote:
The demographics for the Sims 4 comes as no surprise.

Sims 1/2/3 had more supernatural/fantasy gameplay, silly hi-jinks, and comical consequences, so the demographic was a bit more varied (including a more mature age group). Whereas the Sims 4 has been watered down to accommodate a more family/kid friendly play style. That's the choice EA made with this particular iteration and we either accept it or move on. And generally speaking, females/feminine types tend to be drawn towards that type of gameplay (family, nurture, dressup, romance, etc), so of course that's who the largest demographic ends up to be.

Companies will market their games/products to the largest audience and cater to the loudest squeaky wheels. All others (outliers) will get a few crumbs tossed their way once in a while to keep them playing/buying the product too (albeit they're not the main revenue). But it's like this in every industry, not just the Sims and not just gaming.... figure out who your largest demographic is (or choose who you want as your target audience) and aim the majority of your products and marketing strategies in that direction to draw even more of that demographic in.

I guess I'm a bit of an outlier as a Sims 4 player because even though I'm a female, I'm not much of a family player. For a few hours here and there? Sure, but not constantly all the time. I'm more drawn towards fantastical adventures and comical pandemonium. So the supernatural, and silly hijinx aspects of the Sims 1/2/3/4 is what has kept me around for so many years... even though there's less of it in the Sims 4, I'm still enjoying the bits that we do have.


As a side note:
Because of the more family/kid friendly direction of the Sims 4, I'm betting the next iteration of the game (Sims 5) will be even more geared towards that same demographic and will have hardly any (if at all) supernatural/occult/hi-jinks type of gameplay. We're already seeing that partially play out in the Sims 4 with such a lack of occult/supernatural DLC's, the reduction of humourous consequences.... and more importantly, the nerfing out of these things when they have been added because of the larger, louder audience demands on social media to get rid of them.

I think the 'us vs them' problem that has plagued the Sims 4 since the beginning is going to get resolved in the Sims 5 by simply omitting one side altogether. :|

Just my $.02 worth.

Great post

"LeGardePourpre;c-18293746" wrote:
I'm a little surprised by these numbers

Gender
64 + 21 + 13 + 4 = 102%

Sexuality
55 + 17 + 11 + 6 + 5 + 4 = 98%
83 + 4 + 3 + 2 = 92% (nat. rep.)

Things will not add up exactly to 100 with rounding. Plus/minus 2% is common.

For the nation rep, there could be omitted categories or answer choices could have been structured differently.

"GrimlyFiendish;c-18293398" wrote:
I'd be interested in exactly how this information is going to be used for future game design, because to me it seems a bit limiting to just say X amount of people are Cis female/male, X amount are trans, etc. Gender identity does not always line up with an individual's gender expression or gendered interests (that way lies gender essentialism). For example, I am a cisgender woman, my Sims game is 100% occult gameplay, I prefer my Sims families to be happy and drama free, and I don't tend to differentiate between male and female interests of careers when it comes to my Sims interests or work. I have female sims who have more traditionally masculine interests, male sims with more traditionally female interests, and vice versa. If EA is marketing towards cisgendered women in a gender essentialist manner (girls want girly things) then I would find that incredibly limiting. As it is the lack of content for male and masculine presenting Sims is already something I find frustrating and limiting.

That's exactly what worries me, too. Cis Female is such a large category that it is near useless as an umbrella term. I wish there was a polite way to ask the players' "high school stereotype". Knowing whether you market towards a nerd/jock/outsider/gamer/activist/etc. would be helpful.

"Eleri;c-18287024" wrote:
As a twin I absolutely hate being called "they." I know nobody asked . . . I'm just saying.

I AM A TWIN AND I FEEL THE SAME EXACT WAY.

"CAPTAIN_NXR7;c-18287155" wrote:

I will say though - it took them a suspiciously long time to add more “masculine” features to the game. The Modern Menswear kit felt like a real slap in the man-face at the time, not because I believe plaid miniskirts look absolutely ridiculous on adult male bodied individuals (I do think that, no offence) but because of its title “Modern Menswear”, a kit that was released before we even had a full bodyhair menu and nicely fitting, basic masculine clothes. I get the whole Ken thing, but this was getting a bit out of hand. They really made up for it when they introduced body hair, shaving and more masculine / gender neutral clothes in general. Calmed down, I have.

The thing is, this bias towards women attire is actually industry-wide, not just the Sims. Practically every custom character maker out there has better female options than male. I really don't know why that's the case, and it kinda upsets me because I'm a woman who absolutely loves male Sims.

"DaniRose2143;c-18293459" wrote:

"Magdaleena;c-18293430" wrote:
When was this survey conducted? How did the participants find it?

Anyway I'm kinda one of the minority players according to this survey. Ace and trans. We're out here.

As an occult player, I hate that you're probably right... :/

You aren't alone. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community too. I love occults, but I'm more concerned with the efforts of a minority of vocal bigots to erase anyone and anything LGBTQ+ or inclusive. Will EA stand by our side as they have so far, flawed as that stand may be, or will they cave to the bigots? They have stayed the course and included LGBTQ+ sims for as long as I can remember and I hope that never changes.

LGBTQIA+ community member here too, and just personally I think EA has engaged in performative activism & is only interested in appearing inclusive in so far as it benefits them financially. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate what we've gotten so far, I'm just incredibly cynical when it comes to major companies and anything 'pride' related, and I also don't think EA has gone far enough (or rather they've gone as far as is viable from a marketable point of view). I would hope that in future EA will ignore any push back and embrace the LGBTQIA+ community far more than it already has, such as giving us a wider range of options for gender expression (stone butch lesbians exist, for one) or giving us the option to play with FtM and MtF Sims in a way that was meaningful beyond surface dressing.