Electronic Arts’ $55 billion deal to sell itself to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, and the private equity firm Silver Lake still has to receive regulatory approval before it’s finalized. However, some Sims fans and creators have been concerned about how Saudi Arabi’s potential control over the company will affect the inclusive nature of the experience. To alleviate those concerns, the developers behind The Sims franchise wants players to know their core values haven’t been changed by this deal.
“The values of The Sims are unchanged,” reads the statement on the franchise’s official page. “Our Sims team’s creative control, guided by our values of inclusivity, choice, creativity, community, and play, has not changed. These values inspire the decisions we make each and every day as we plan for today, tomorrow, and the future.”
Given Saudi Arabi’s history of human rights abuses, the worried reactions from The Sims community appear to be understandable. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren have both raised their concerns about “foreign influence” on EA if the deal goes through. Subsequently, EA has asserted that it will retain creative control of the company following the sale.
The Sims team’s statement also reaffirmed its commitment “to single-player life simulation experiences” while teasing upcoming Sims experiences for PC, consoles, and mobile games. Playtesting for those experiences is expected to begin this year. The team also stated that, “Project Rene has evolved into a social, collaborative, mobile-first life-sim game,” and it’s not intended to be a successor to The Sims 4. Instead, it’s described as “a new way to explore and play together within the growing Sims family of games, welcoming Simmers who want to connect directly with other players.”
Last year, EA said that it’s sold too much DLC for The Sims 4 to even consider moving on to The Sims 5. The franchise also has a Sims movie in development, which is being produced by Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap production studio.