The Sims Freeplay - Industries and Audience
Read this Pocket Gamer interview with EA’s Amanda Schofield, Senior Producer on The Sims FreePlay at EA's Melbourne-based Firemonkeys studio. Answer the following questions:
1) How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch?
At its release, The Sims FreePlay allowed you to control 16 Sims, have a pet dog and a career. Five years later, however, you can get married, have children, buy more clothes, decorate your house in an infinite amount of ways, pets now range from puppies and kittens to dragons and fairies and the world is full of places for Sims to go.
At its release, The Sims FreePlay allowed you to control 16 Sims, have a pet dog and a career. Five years later, however, you can get married, have children, buy more clothes, decorate your house in an infinite amount of ways, pets now range from puppies and kittens to dragons and fairies and the world is full of places for Sims to go.
2) Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’?
She suggests they are ' services built in a partnership with our players.' and this is because customer support and community management are a critical part of the game development process and must be embedded within the game teams so they not only know what their players are saying about the newest update, but they also can quickly respond to any problems that arise. It also allows the developers to gain feedback on the game so they can continue to make updates and changes that the players want and will make them happy.
She suggests they are ' services built in a partnership with our players.' and this is because customer support and community management are a critical part of the game development process and must be embedded within the game teams so they not only know what their players are saying about the newest update, but they also can quickly respond to any problems that arise. It also allows the developers to gain feedback on the game so they can continue to make updates and changes that the players want and will make them happy.
3) What does she say about The Sims gaming community?
She says that they are 'very active and always hungry to see more features and content in the game.'
She says that they are 'very active and always hungry to see more features and content in the game.'
4) How has EA kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base?
EA has kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base by adding new professions to the game, making build mode more creative by adding features like balconies and pools and adding new character ages (like babies, toddlers and children)
EA has kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base by adding new professions to the game, making build mode more creative by adding features like balconies and pools and adding new character ages (like babies, toddlers and children)
5) How many times has the game been installed and how much game time in years have players spent playing the game? These could be great introductory statistics in an exam essay on this topic.
- There have been 200 million installs of The Sims FreePlay to date
- 78,000 is the amount of game time in years players have spent in the game
Finally, read this blog on how EA is ruining the franchise (or not) due to its downloadable content. Answer the following questions:
- Being able to create virtual humans with personalities and ambitions and take complete control of their lives
- Experiment with architecture, decoration and landscaping
2) What examples of downloadable content are presented?
New clothing or furniture as well as DLC content based on movies (Star Wars Battlefront II)
New clothing or furniture as well as DLC content based on movies (Star Wars Battlefront II)
3) How did Electronic Arts enrage The Sims online communities with expansion packs and DLC?
They locked several iconic characters and powerful multiplayer abilities behind DLC in “Star Wars Battlefront II.”
They locked several iconic characters and powerful multiplayer abilities behind DLC in “Star Wars Battlefront II.”
4) What innovations have appeared in various versions of The Sims over the years?
The Sims has come up with many innovations. These range from 'Seasons' to 'University life' to 'Pets' to 'Get famous'. These are all things part of normal everyday real life but when The Sims create an expansion or game pack related to these, they receive massive support and gamers love them. This can be linked to postmodernism and hyper-reality.
The Sims has come up with many innovations. These range from 'Seasons' to 'University life' to 'Pets' to 'Get famous'. These are all things part of normal everyday real life but when The Sims create an expansion or game pack related to these, they receive massive support and gamers love them. This can be linked to postmodernism and hyper-reality.
5) In your opinion, do expansion packs like these exploit a loyal audience or is it simply EA responding to customer demand?
I think that while EA does respond to customer demand and want their players to be happy, they are ultimately a major conglomerate whose aim is to make a profit. Therefore, they often end up releasing new DLC that disappoint their customers. An example of this was “The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff.” This is a new stuff pack released by EA for The Sims 4 and it angered many players because, not only did it require a previous expansion pack to be played, but it also felt like a scam because its contents should have been offered in 'The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs' expansion pack.
Hence, it is clear that EA sometimes takes advantage of their loyal fan base, as they know they will continue to buy extensions to the game regardless of the price because they are known for wanting to unlock the full potential of the game.
I think that while EA does respond to customer demand and want their players to be happy, they are ultimately a major conglomerate whose aim is to make a profit. Therefore, they often end up releasing new DLC that disappoint their customers. An example of this was “The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff.” This is a new stuff pack released by EA for The Sims 4 and it angered many players because, not only did it require a previous expansion pack to be played, but it also felt like a scam because its contents should have been offered in 'The Sims 4 Cats and Dogs' expansion pack.
Hence, it is clear that EA sometimes takes advantage of their loyal fan base, as they know they will continue to buy extensions to the game regardless of the price because they are known for wanting to unlock the full potential of the game.
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