GDC '08: Nearly 100M Sims sold

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Feb 19, 2008 10:52 am PT

Exec in charge of Electronic Arts' hit virtual life franchise says the brand should hit a huge milestone next month.

SAN FRANCISCO--With an abundance of expansions and spin-offs, it's no secret that the Sims franchise is huge for Electronic Arts. During a session yesterday at the Serious Games Summit portion of the Game Developers Conference, EA's vice president for global brand development of The Sims label Steve Seabolt gave attendees a glimpse of just how big the series really is.

"The Sims is a highly successful entertainment brand," Seabolt said. "In fact, we're coming up next month on selling our 100 millionth unit of The Sims, so it's mega mega. … We make so much money from The Sims--it is so profitable--that unlike other businesses, we don't have to sell it out with advertising and sponsorship and flog the user with advertising to make money."

While EA will enter into agreements with advertisers for The Sims, Seabolt said the publisher is very choosy about how it goes about that and is careful to make sure it's something players will welcome. For example, he mentioned a promotion that saw Sims players receive an in-game Ford Mustang. While Ford did pay EA for the product placement, Seabolt said many users looked at the car simply as a cool gift for their Sims to drive, not an ad.

55 Comments

  • youthebestboy

    Posted Jun 25, 2008 12:38 pm PT

    wo thats like.... 3 billion dollars

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Mar 19, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    Daaaaaaaaaayyymn. Will Wright, EA and the crew are cashing IN!

  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Mar 5, 2008 8:24 pm PT

    damn thats almost as many ps2s sold , lol

  • Nintendude25

    Posted Feb 23, 2008 1:00 pm PT

    I wuldn't mind in game advertising in the sims. It would give it a more real sense

  • F10yd

    Posted Feb 23, 2008 9:15 am PT

    ITS OVER 100 MILLION

  • snowyjoe

    Posted Feb 23, 2008 12:48 am PT

    oh, right he's talking about in-game advertising.
    First thought he was talking about advertising the sims on tv and such.

    Meh advertising is good IF they bring down the price.

    Look at the Sims 2 Stuff Pack H&M, H&M probably paid them a fortune for that stuff pack and it's the exact same price as all the other packs!

  • jmartin1016

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 8:36 am PT

    EA bought out the rights to my mom, now she only tells me she loves me if I purchase every new madden that comes out.

  • Travis281

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 6:53 pm PT

    Ad placement in this environment can be either seamless, or intrusive. I'd like brand names on soda for example, but I don't want to have to select "DRINK A COKE (R)" from my fridge every time my sim is thirsty.

  • ejwlover

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 3:24 pm PT

    I can't wait for The Sims 3! Yay!!

  • chimera01

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 1:51 pm PT

    My only experiences with the Sims, was on the console. I can see the appeal to the game, but I'm not a huge fan of the series. i kind of got tired of playing a game about doing chores and handling responsibilities, while neglecting the ones in real life.

  • mayur-ruyam

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 1:03 pm PT

    i hope this time they don't ruin the good sims name with crappy add ons lke kitchen acceries which are pointless

  • Pastehunter

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 9:11 am PT

    Thats not surprising at all

  • smadiso1

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 7:55 am PT

    WOO-HOO! Thanks for taking, and spending, all my hard earned cash EA! 100 million units is a pretty impressive mile marker though; and here I helped put in at least 16 of those units!

  • johan1986

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:20 am PT

    They will take over the world

  • Hailogon

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 4:07 am PT

    I just find it frustrating that even though the PS3 has support for keyboard and mouse, not enough people utilize this for EA to take notice and implement support for this method of input into The Sims 3. I really think that it's this which has made the console versions of the sims so iffy.

  • skrat_01

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 2:59 am PT

    Dear God.... Thats incredible.

    @imtheman4 - no the Sims 3 will just come out on PC, and remain exclusive just like the other Sims games. Expect a spinoff on console.

    And the sims was never a demmanding game, it simply suits the PC platform better, and EA makes a killing from expansions.

  • Trashcan_Man

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 11:18 pm PT

    Still want a decent Sims game on the Wii. =P But Sims 2 pwnz

  • imtheman4

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 10:22 pm PT

    sence the sims 3 is comming out on PS3 they really need to make it like the PC ones sence the PS3 and or 360 have the memory for better quality of the sims

  • j3v1zzle

    Posted Feb 19, 2008 8:49 pm PT

    100 million. Wow. That's just amazing. Congrats to EA.

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