The Sims 4stands out as a unique experience in the video game industry. Obviously, it’s a life simulation game where players can create unique characters, their homes and families, and so much more, and that’s unique enough in the video game industry. ButThe Sims 4also stands out with regards to its incredibly diverse playerbase. It’s something that the development team of Maxis is so proud of that it’s advertising it in its job listings.
For example, take a recentMaxisjob listing for a Senior Game Designer. A line in the listing’s introduction describes the game’s “very unique playerbase” and proudly proclaims that 60% ofThe Sims 4’s audience is women between the ages of 18 and 24. Of course, it mentions this for a reason, asking for applicants to have “deep insights” into creating the best experience for its unique playerbase. In other words, Maxis embraces and encourages this diverse playerbase even now.
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It has now been over seven years sinceThe Sims 4launched. For any other game, outside oflive service titlesand MMOs, that’s long enough that most gamers would have been moved on. Yet Electronic Arts continues to supportThe Sims 4even now. In 2021, EA released the Cottage Living expansion pack forThe Sims 4, as well as the Dream Home Detector game pack, and Paranormal Stuff stuff pack.The Sims 4support remains alive and well.
It’s possible that it’s specifically due toThe Sims 4’s unique and diverse playerbasethat EA and Maxis aren’t ready to move on. Who’s to say ifThe Sims 4’s unique playerbase, a rare video game with a majority of women players, would carry over to aThe Sims 5? Maxis would have to recreate the success ofThe Sims 4.
That’s great news forThe Sims 4players, of course. And this Maxis job listing reinforces this idea, as it seems written specifically for work onThe Sims 4and its community. There’s no hint that EA might be ready to move onto something new, at least in this limited look into what the team is thinking.
The number of women playing video games continues to grow, worldwide. Within the United States, around 48% of women have played a video game, though only 6% of them identify as a “gamer.“The Sims 4isn’t the only game that’s capitalizing on a large number of women in its audience, either. A 2020 survey taggedgames includingMinecraft,Rust, andFortniteas having audiences with a significant number of women. Who knows what the future will hold?
The Sims 4is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
