The base version ofThe Sims 4went free to playearlier this year in February, nearly nine years after its launch, but we won’t have to wait as long for its sequel to do the same. According to a job application for “Head of Monetization & Marketplace”, The Sims 5 will be “free-to-enter”.
As reported byKotaku, the person who gets this job will be in charge of deciding the best prices for paid content–this could be expansions or microtransactions, anything that costs real money in the game’s marketplace. The best prices being what turn a profit for EA while still keeping players invested. Like The Sims 4 now works, The Sims 5 will have a base game that’s free to download, but any expansions will still cost money. you may read an excerpt of the listing below.
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There are a few concerns that come from this model, however. While The Sims 4 is now an incredibly popular and beloved game by the community, its launch was barebones. Fans were disappointed to find that The Sims 3’s open world had been gutted and replaced by much smaller, less customisable zones. The game also lacked cars, swimming pools, ghosts, career paths, and the entirety of the toddler life stage (a staple since the second game).
With The Sims 5 going free, it remains to be seen how much will be saved for DLC and how extensive the base game will actually be. It could even be that there’s a paid version with more content–until EA clarifies or reveals further details, we can only speculate.
TheGamer has reached out to EA for comment.
We haven’t seen much of The Sims 5 yet, butearly footage was shared late last yearthat gave us a glimpse at the building mode. Shortly after,playtests went liveand leaks surfaced claiming that The Sims 5 will feature apartment interiors and neighbourhoods. Interestingly, these neighbourhoods included cars, so it seems less stripped back than The Sims 4’s launch already.
“This play test mostly was focusing on the new building and furniture features,” the leaker said. “It had 4 preset studio apartments for you to mess around in or an empty one for you to build in. There were no sims in this at all.”
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