Electronic Arts announced that the award winning computer game franchise, The Sims, will celebrate its fifth anniversary this month. The very first The Sims videogame for the PC began shipping to stores this week in February 2000 and took the nation by storm by becoming the No.1 selling PC game in four out of the last five years. Since 2000, the franchise has spawned 7 expansion packs, been translated into over 17 languages and has sold more than 54 million units worldwide. In September 2004, the next-generation sequel The Sims 2 quickly became the fastest-selling PC game. In just five months, sales have already reached over 4.5 million units worldwide. The first expansion pack for this award-winning game, The Sims 2 University, will be in stores February 28, 2005 and will allow players to send their Sims to college and experience the ultimate on-campus fantasy.
In order to mark the occasion, let's have a look at a few Sims related facts:
-One of the often neglected but important aspects of the franchise is that The Sims managed to double its audience by appealing to women, something which very few games have done before or since.
- The Sims franchise has shipped over 52 million units worldwide, including more than 16 million units of the original product, The Sims. Since the launch in 2000, The Sims franchise shipped 7 expansion packs and a deluxe, console, and online version. The Sims has been translated into more than 17 languages and is sold worldwide.
- The next generation of The Sims launched in September 2004 with The Sims 2 and has sales already topping 4.5 million units worldwide. The Sims 2 will ship its first expansion pack, The Sims 2 University, in February 2005.
- The Urbz: Sims in the City, a spin-off to The Sims, brought Sims to the city for the first time. It shipped for console and handheld game systems in the fall of 2004 and continues to sell well worldwide.
- According to The NPD Group, The Sims original product is the number one selling PC game in North America and The Sims 2 is the number one selling PC game of 2004 in North America.
- The Sims 2 received over 20 editors' choice awards, perfect review scores and over 35 magazine covers worldwide. Most recently, The Sims 2 received the award for the Best Simulation Game at the 2005 D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.
- The Sims 2 players have created over 125,000 Sims & Houses for their Sims, and uploaded these to EA to share with other players. The player-made Sims & Houses have been downloaded by over 5 million unique visitors from around the globe. In addition, players have used The Sims 2 moviemaking feature to film their Sims' lives and create their own movies. Over 4,000 movies have been created since the launch of the game in September 2004.
-The creator of The Sims, Will Wright, has been honored with many accolades for his outstanding achievement in his trade and was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in February 2002, joining such industry legends as Sid Meier and Shigeru Miyamoto. Wright has also been included in Entertainment Weekly's "It List" of "the 100 most creative people in entertainment," Time Digital's "Digital 50", a listing of "the most important people shaping technology today." In 2002, he was listed as number 35 on Entertainment Weekly's Power List and in 2003 was features in Game Informer's 'Top 10 Developer List of 2003'.
