EA launches an official creator program for ‘The Sims’

By Chris Morris

October 18, 2022

 

Modifications are nothing new to the world of The Sims. Players have been making their own additions and upgrades to the game since the franchise started in 2001. But there has never been any sort of curation or central hub for those tweaks (known in the Sims world as mods).

That’s about to change as developers of the Electronic Arts’ title have teamed with third-party developer Overwolf to launch a mod program for The Sims 4. With Overwolf’s CurseForge, users will have access to a moderated, safe repository to find new content—and to ensure that any existing mods they already have are regularly updated to the latest version. 

“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time,” says Lyndsay Pearson, VP of franchise creative for The Sims at Electronic Arts. “How can we recognize the creations of these creators and offer a safer way for the consumers to engage with the content?”

Mods are, essentially, new levels and characters created using basic programming code that ships with a game. It’s user-generated content that can mean everything from new gameplay elements to new ways to play.  

On November 14, CurseForge will reveal the Official Mod Hub and, to celebrate the news, launch a mod creation festival with a $100,000 prize pool. Then, on December 6, Overwolf is kicking off the CurseForge Mod Manager with The Sims 4, which will allow players to view their mods in thumbnails; find mods using search, filters, and category parameters; automatically detect and remove broken or duplicated mods; and manage updates for all of the player’s mods, including those they might already own. (That’s a big time-saver for players, as many don’t remember where they downloaded the mod from initially.)

“We’re trying to solve problems for players as well as creators,” says Uri Marchand, CEO and cofounder of Overwolf. “For players, if you want to download Sims mods, there are [currently] a gazillion destinations. . . . The whole user experience is not optimal. We’re trying to create a centralized hub.”

Indeed, Pearson describes the current mod community for The Sims as “generally the Wild West.” By finally partnering with an established company (CurseForge already is a repository for mods for MineCraft, World of Warcraft, Kerbal Space Program, and 35 other games), EA aims to tamp down on inappropriate content and potential security risks.

 

It’s an unusual move to make for a title as old as The Sims 4. Released eight years ago, the game still has an active community that’s constantly looking for more content. The player base is more mainstream, though, and therefore has been hesitant to download and install mods.

“One thing we’re trying to do with this partnership is we hope to bring more of the players who have not tried mods yet into the mod world,” Marchand says.

The launch of the CurseForge Sims hub should assuage some of those fears, but there could still be some hesitation since the mod manager and mod hub won’t be accessible directly from the game for now. Pearson says conversations are already underway about making that happen in the future.

 

As for the creators themselves, the launch of the Sims hub will not only act as recognition of their work but it could also open up the possibility of financial compensation. All mods on CurseForge are free, but the site has a rewards program for creators.

Points, worth 5 cents each, are given based on a project’s popularity. Those can be exchanged for either Amazon gift cards or PayPal deposits. That’s a welcome change for modders who were upset earlier this year when EA set rules for content creators prohibiting mods from being sold or licensed—or containing features that support “monetary transactions of any type.”

While it’s making mods more a part of its content strategy, the addition of the mod hub doesn’t mean the Sims team will be pulling back on officially released content. Pearson says it’s just another layer for players.

 

“This is adding more crayons to the crayon box,” she says.” It’s not taking any work away from us. We’re definitely not counting on modders to fill in the game for us. We have so much more we want to make, but it’s a recognition that they have a thing they want to make as well.”

 

Fast Company

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