It’s a surprise, but it’s not necessarily a good one. The Sims 5 will be free at launch, and the community is particularly worried. Explanations.
The Sims 5 will not be available for many years, but Maxis does not hesitate to communicate about the next episode of the saga to some 70 million players. Lately, the developers have finally shown an overview of the characters, lighting, interactions, but also neighborhoods. It was enough to make the mouth water of the community, which is impatient with the idea of discovering this next chapter. Precisely, it could mark the beginning of an important change for the saga.
The Sims 5 free at launch
Known as Project Rene, details around The Sims 5 are pretty skimpy. We know that it will offer a multiplayer component allowing you to decorate a space with your friends, and that it will be playable simultaneously on mobile to pick up where you left off. The game then announces as a turning point for the saga with a greater emphasis on social interactions outside the game and intuitiveness. However, it could take a more significant shift in its economic model. According to a job offer, The Sims 5 will be free at launch. Maxis is indeed looking for a person in charge of monetization and the marketplace. The candidate will be responsible for defining the price list for the content of the game qualified as ” free-to-enter “.
Don’t be fooled by this different formulation, it does mean that The Sims 5 will be free at launch with an integrated store allowing you to retrieve various content, free and paid, official and created by the community. In short, it smacks of full-nosed microtransactions, but the franchise is renowned for its many paid kits and extensions that make all the salt of the game. This time, Maxis seems to take on a base game that is less rich than expected, which will expand depending on the DLCs.
An assumed kit game?
This turn is not so surprising. The Sims 4 itself went free-to-play several months ago. Maxis knows it, its community is eager for extensions improving the experience, but what will it concretely offer at launch to monetize The Sims 5? It is on this point that the players express their concerns. Especially since the offer does not go to mortmain. The recruited person must maximizing value for players, optimizing their spending habits and minimizing customer churn. From there, everything is possible, even the worst scenarios. The community is openly divided on the issue, but many agree on one point: this is not a good sign. For them, if The Sims 5 is free at launch, then the quality of the base game will suffer.
” It is not good news. This means that the base game will be stripped down and they will probably inundate us not only with micro transactions, but also with subscriptions “, comments fan of the license. A message approved by many people, who fear a store even more expensive than that of the Sims 3 and an economic model as detestable as their mobile game. Free, it is ultimately not always good. Since the information circulated on the web, EA quickly removed his job offer. The developers will have to reassure millions of players in their next communication.