25 years of “The Sims”: Meet the duo who keeps the iconic game alive there is a generation

Put The Sims fans in an online room or forum together, and there will be no shortage of modifications of the game to learn, design tricks to dominate and lore inside the game to find out. But it won’t be long before the discussion inevitably turns to a dirty or secret secret among players of all ages, a rite of passage from each devotee in the game.
“There is something really beautiful to see a Sims player find another Sims player,” says Lyndsay Pearson, vice president of creation of the game franchise. “They eventually admit that they killed someone.”
Because, although outside the game may seem like a cozy simulacrum of life in the suburbs, fans are attracted to it for creative freedom not only to build their dream homes, but to build an entire dream reality, one in which Sims can lie, cheat, steal, but be murdered to advance the story desired by the player. And be intentionally done, for example, removing steps from a pool after yes taking a dive, or accidentally through a fire in the house or meteor fall, eliminating a yes is one of the many elements of the iconic life simulation game that helped make it one of the bestseller of all time.
By celebrating his 25th anniversary on February 4, Pearson and Rachel Franklin, senior vice president of Electronic Arts (EA), recently talked to me about their careers in game development and what they see for the future of the franchise that generated more than $ 5 billion in revenue. And they praised creativity within the fan base – even if it leads to a character death or two. (Reporter’s Note: I’m a player since the first game Sims for PC and I already “killed” my quota of Sims.)
Both women are EA veterans, the game’s editor, and Pearson loved the game long before starting to work there in 2002. In fact, she started her time at EA as a college testing before her design work full time. Two decades later, their fingerprints are in each variant of the game – the latest version is The Sims 4, although there are many other expansion and game packages – and now she leads her long -term creative vision. She was responsible for much of the tradition celebrated by the players, such as the “what happened to Bella Goth” mystery (spoiler: she was kidnapped by aliens) that new and ancient fans obsessively argue.
Franklin also has decades of experience in game development, first as an engineer and now as the leader of the entire EA lifestyle entertainment team.
Although games are still a men -dominated industry that has many well -documented problems to bring more women to the industry, Pearson and Franklin say The Sims has always been a welcoming home to women’s talents. Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the game, which allows players to create avatars of themselves – to be life -like versions or dreams of dreams – friends and family.
“Female leadership has always been part of our DNA from the beginning,” says Pearson about his franchise work. “We play a really important role, just in industry, to show a way for a team to work that really builds inclusion without even thinking about it.”
In fact, EA, more broadly, has implemented a strategy known as “positive game,” which focuses on creating a community in which people feel welcome while they remain themselves. The Sims’s global workforce, with employees of all races, ages and genders, helps to achieve its mission, says Franklin.
“I had a lot of experiences where a team member says, ‘Hey, I can’t represent myself in this game,’” she says. “And you need this impulse, you need this voice, you need someone on the team saying, ‘Hey, we need to do better.’ This inevitably improves the experience for your players. ”
Pearson and Franklin promise many surprises for the devoted community members to celebrate a quarter of the game. And of course, there is the movie Live-action by The Sims to wait.
For Franklin, the best part of the game is the safe space that the Sims universe offers players.
“There is cause and effect and freedom and the ability to create, but there is always optimism, and always a way to get out of the complicated confusion in which you may have put your yes,” she says. While players can eliminate their Sims, they can also resurrect them.