Det er ingen hemmelighed, at The Sims-franchisen er en pengeko for EA og sandsynligvis vil fortsætte med at være det i overskuelig fremtid. Udvidelsespakker, stuff packs og forskellige andre tilføjelser har længe været en fast del af spillets livscyklus, selvom det meste naturligvis ikke er gratis. Mange loyale fans har brugt absurde mængder penge på at holde deres spil opdateret, og ifølge EA er det noget, de i høj grad vil tage højde for, når de planlægger seriens fremtid.
I et eksklusivt interview med Variety udtalte Laura Miele, EA's President of Entertainment, følgende om fremtiden for The Sims:
"What we're doing is upgrading and refreshing all this technology, and we'll be adding modes of play — but we also are going to be creating and updating the base technology and the base user experience on the core game."
Det er tidligere blevet afsløret, at EA planlægger at introducere en form for multiplayer til The Sims 4, selvom det endnu er uklart, hvordan det præcis kommer til at se ud. Hun fortsatte:
"So you're going to have this life simulation, you're going to have multiplayer capabilities, we are going to have mobile expressions of this. We're doing cosy games as well and more to come on that. We did a release with Nintendo on cosy games in Asia for 'The Sims.' I see 'The Sims' as a significant ecosystem, and a universe of multiple 'Sims' experiences that we have to build on."
Mange fans har udtrykt deres skuffelse over afvigelsen fra seriens naturlige udvikling, nemlig en direkte efterfølger (The Sims 5). Men Miele insisterer på, at dette er den rigtige vej fremad.
"What I wouldn't want to have happen is you to have to start from day zero and start from scratch and give up all of the things that you have created, give up all of the content that you've purchased over the years. We put out over 85 content packs over the last 10 years on 'The Sims 4,' and so resetting that is not player friendly and not a good idea for our community."
Traditionelt er The Sims-serien startet på en frisk med hver ny del, men ifølge Miele ønsker EA nu at bevæge sig væk fra den model for at bevare det, fællesskabet allerede har opbygget. En rigtig Sims 5 begynder derfor at føles mere og mere fjern. Senere i interviewet delte hun også tanker om den Sims-film, der i øjeblikket er under udvikling, og som blandt andet har Barbie-stjernen Margot Robbie knyttet til projektet.
"Where we sit today, from a technology perspective, innovation perspective, we are in a moment where we can actually co-create content and be a multiplier for each other and have these great experiences for fans. It's going to be so full circle and so fulfilling to bring content in a linear way and an interactive way, simultaneously, and even have it adapt to fans and how things are going. When we have a couple of ideas about how we would go to market with a movie and a couple of different expressions, I just think the opportunity is so ripe."
EA har tydeligvis mange jern i ilden, når det kommer til The Sims — men The Sims 5 er stadig ingen steder i sigte.
Synes du, EA er på vej i den rigtige retning?