The future episode of The Sims, formalized since October 2022, should be free, according to a job posting posted online. We remind you that The Sims 4 has gone free-to-play in recent months.
We are still far from the release of the game The Sims 5, but we are beginning to see its outlines. The game should be a great success considering the popularity of its predecessor — The Sims 4 still brings together more than 25,000 people connected at the same time (only on Steam). At the moment, he is known as Project Rene and details about him are quite scanty. However, clues to its economic model were spotted on June 28 by the specialist site Sims Community. where we learn that The Sims 5 will be free.
On the recruitment site of the Maxis studio, in charge of the development of the life simulation, there appeared a job offer about a position responsible for managing monetization and the marketplace. In particular, the candidate will be responsible for defining the price list for all the content of this “ free-to-enter game “. The formula is different from “free-to-play”, but means the same thing: a priori, The Sims 5 will be free — at least up to a point.
There’s nothing illogical about The Sims 5 being free
The job description also provides information on the existence of an integrated store, from which one could retrieve content from various categories (free, paid, official, created by the community). Which means concretely: The Sims 5 should be full of microtransactions, in addition to the many packs that allow you to add accessories, furniture and customization items. In The Sims 4you have to spend a minimum wage to have it all.
In short, the more than conceivable free Sims 5 won’t deter fans from spending money once they’ve gotten the hang of the core content. The person in charge of monetization at Maxis will have to ” maximizing player value, optimizing spending habits and minimizing customer churn. “The goal is clearly to generate maximum revenue, and the levers to do so are now numerous (DLC, seasonal content, subscriptions).
In any case, there is nothing illogical to see The Sims 5 adopt free-to-play status. Paid at launch, The Sims 4 went there in October 2022 and the statistics started to rise again: 12,000 players on average in September, more than double a month later (according to SteamCharts). On Steam, The Sims 4 reached its historic peak — more than 96,000 people — in October. Free is an unstoppable entry point, especially when you have a slew of content to sell later.
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