Happy [10th] Birthday, The Sims

via Casual Gaming


One of the games industry’s most celebrated global success is enjoys its tenth birthday today, and while success very much depends on how you measure it, by any account The Sims is one of most successful and enduring video games series the world has ever seen.

Having first debuted on February 4th 2000, The Sims IP has since gone on to become the best-selling PC game in “nearly every major video game market worldwide”, shifting a massive 125m copies and generating $2.5bn of revenue in the process.

“The success of The Sims is something gamers and the gaming business as a whole can be proud of,” EA Play label boss Rod Humble stated.

“With its charming and quirky style, lovely emergent game mechanics and user created creativity that delights every day, The Sims is a game that can be enjoyed by everybody and reflects what you put into it.

“The future of The Sims is going to be a lot of fun; it is rare for an entertainment franchise to be gaining momentum a decade after release, so this is a particularly pleasant moment for everyone who has worked on the games.”

And while some series struggle to maintain their popularity in the quickly evolving market that is video games, there’s no sign yet of The Sims’ popularity abating. The most recent instalment, The Sims 3, has sold over 4.5m units since its release in June last year.

In addition, there have been nearly 110m downloads for the game and its community website welcomes in the region of 6m unique users each month, serving 300 downloads a minute.

The Sims’ success has spread to new formats, too, with The Sims 3 on iPhone being the best selling game on the App Store in 2009. The Sims 3’s YouTube channel is the second most subscribed on the service with over 55,000 users and over 26m video views.

So let’s raise a glass to one of our greatest successes. Happy birthday, The Sims!