A Brief History of
The Sims
How playing with life became one of the best selling PC game series of all time
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1989
SimCity, the predecesor to The Sims, is released by Maxis. The game developer is Will Wright, who will go on to design The Sims as well.
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1991
Will Wright loses his home in the Oakland firestorm of 1991. He has the idea of making building a life into a game. Originally, the board of directors at Maxis are skeptical about the idea and give it little consideration.
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1997
Electronic Arts (EA) buys Maxis. EA is interested in Wright's idea and gives him the green light to go ahead with game development.
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2000
The Sims is released on February 4th, 2000 and it is a hit, with its unique open-ended gameplay structure. It allows players to emulate the daily activities of virtual people, or "Sims". Seven expansion packs and two deluxe versions are released, as well as versions of the game for different platforms.
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2002
The Sims sells more than 6.3 copies worldwide, which surpasses Myst as the best selling PC game in history at the time.
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2004
The Sims 2 is released on September 14, 2004. Sims age through seven life stages, and now have aspirations and express individual wants and fears. The game also introduces days of the week, with a weekeend that kids have off from school and adults have off from work. EA releases eight expansion packs and nine stuff packs for the game.
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2009
The Sims 3 is released on June 2, 2009. This sequel features an open, seamless neighborhood, enhanced build and buy mode features, and more options for customization. Aspirations are broken down into small goals. The Sims 3 sells 1.4 million copies in its first week, making it the largest release in PC gaming history at the time. EA releases eleven expansion packs and nine stuff packs for the game.
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2014
The Sims 4 is released on September 2, 2014. As of 2020, EA has released nine expansion packs, eight game pakcs and fifteen stuff packs. The game gains popularity on streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch.
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2017
Guinness World Records awards The Sims with numerous records, including "Most Expansion Packs for a Video Game Series" and "Best Selling PC Game Series".
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2019
The Sims combined generated lifetime sales pass US$5 billion.
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2020
The Sims Spark'd is released by EA and BuzzFeed. It is a reality show featuring 12 contestants who feature The Sims on their streaming channels compete in challenges for a $100,000 prize. It starts airing on TBS on July 17, 2020.
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This website was created by life-long Sims addict
Natalia Agredo
