Last year, EA was acquired by a consortium for $55 billion, giving Saudi Arabia's PIF, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, almost sole ownership of the company. Concerns were immediately raised by players that some of EA's most comprehensive and diverse games, such as Dragon Age and The Sims, would stifle their message, and while CEO Andrew Wilson emphasized that the acquisition would not affect its value, veteran BioWare writer Trick Weekes (sadly fired in 2025) and former executive Mark Darrah were among many who questioned this promise.
In protest of the acquisition, several Sims creators quit the EA Creator Network and took a stand against the new leadership amid growing concerns in the community, but EA remained adamant that its values would not change. As reported by Eurogamer, in a recent blog about the future of the series, The Sims team claimed that they will continue to champion diversity in the game even under PIF's de facto ownership.
The Sims team will still advocate for a “diverse spectrum of identities,” but players are worried about where their money is going.
“The Sim Team’s creative control, anchored by our values of inclusivity, choice, creativity, community, and play, has not changed,” the blog post reads. “These values inspire the decisions we make every day as we plan for today, tomorrow and the future. The Sims has always been about life and your way.”
The values were comprised of five core items:
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Creativity.
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play.
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select.
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Inclusiveness.
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community.
“We reflect a broad and colorful spectrum of identity and self-expression to ensure that all players feel seen and celebrated,” the team wrote. “We build the ability for every player to create a Sim they feel connected to and explore their identity without judgment. This work is never done. We continue to learn, grow, and find new ways to make every player feel like they belong.”
But despite these assurances, there is concern among players that all the money spent on The Sims 4 will now “go to people who want the 'inclusive' kind to die,” making it nearly impossible to celebrate the diversity on display in future expansions. For context, homosexuality is prohibited in Saudi Arabia and the most severe punishment is death. Transgender people also face prosecution and conversion therapy for non-conforming gender expressions. So even if the values don't change, there are many people in the community who argue, “No matter how many Pride flag items I make, the money will still go to people I don't want to support.”
- released
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September 2, 2014
- ESRB
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T for teens: crude humor, sexual themes, violence
- developer
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maxis
- engine
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proprietary engine
- cross platform play
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The Xbox, PlayStation, and Sims 4 computer versions are all separate games that are not compatible with each other.
- cross save
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no
