Sims 2 preparing to Open For Business

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Just days after The Sims 2 Nightlife shipped, the next expansion pack in the über-popular alternate-existence game has been revealed. An American expatriate living in Switzerland, who got an advance copy of the game, was kind enough to take pictures of the packaging and then posted them on the sims2community.com Web site.

On the back of the Nightlife booklet is an advertisement in German declaring that "The newest PC expansion pack is underway." Directly translated, the title means "The Sims Do Business." The ad also shows a trio of Sims 2 characters surrounding a cash register with boxes, indicating it will let players play virtual venture capitalist and/or small business owner. It is also in the same location--the rear of the booklet--that the first ad for The Sims 2 Nightlife was found.

GameSpot has learned that the actual English title for the expansion pack will be "The Sims 2: Open for Business," and it will be released sometime next year. Given the seven-month interval between the University and Nightlife expansions, it's likely the game will start its own wave of real-life commerce in May.

No further details about The Sims 2: Open for Business were available as of press time. For more on the latest Sims 2 expansion, read GameSpot's full review of The Sims 2 Nightlife.