It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years already. On February 4, 2000, The Sims was launched, revolutionizing the PC games market. Now, EA has announced that the franchise and its many expansion packs have totaled more than 125 million unit sales worldwide. The Sims remains the best-selling PC game franchise in almost every market, and has generated over $2.5 billion in revenues. EA said that its sales put it in the class with films like Avatar or The Matrix Trilogy... except The Sims took 10 years to do it.
“The success of The Sims is something gamers and the gaming business as a whole can be proud of. With its charming and quirky style, lovely emergent game mechanics and user created creativity that delights every day, The Sims is a game that can be enjoyed by everybody and reflects what you put into it,” said Rod Humble, Head of the EA Play label. “The future of The Sims is going to be a lot of fun; it is rare for an entertainment franchise to be gaining momentum a decade after release, so this is a particularly pleasant moment for everyone who has worked on the games.”
The Sims 3 was recently revealed to be the best-selling PC game in 2009 worldwide - more than 4.5 million units sold - and it was also the #1 selling iPhone game last year.
We do find it curious that nowhere in the press release does EA mention Will Wright, who created SimCity and The Sims. Of course, The Sims as a phenomenon has become much bigger than Wright himself, but EA's Sims business would be nowhere without the genius of Wright. The legendary game designer left EA last year to pursue his projects at Stupid Fun Club.
