Lately, it seemsEA’smain priority has been trying to give players more reasons to roll our eyes at it – the last time I personally grumbled about the company was just weeks ago, when EA’s CEOsaid the company was considering putting ads in its games.
Players have recently dug up evidence thatThe Sims 4will be implementing an ‘events’ system that will reward players for logging in regularly. There hasn’t been an official announcement just yet, butan unlisted videopublished over a week ago on the official Sims YouTube channel contains an in-depth tutorial on the upcoming system.
The video displays something that definitely looks like a battle pass. These ‘Login Events’ last for specific periods of time, and you can unlock new rewards like hairstyles and jewellery for your Sims, alongside items for activities and skills, just by logging in and claiming them. To claim every reward in a single event, you have to log in at least eight times over the course of the four week event, and you can only unlock a given week’s rewards within that week. The events will show up as a tile in the Main Menu so you don’t forget about them.
The Sims 4 Does Not Need To Be Habit-Forming
I get it. At this point, The Sims 4 isalmost, but not quite, a live service. The base game is now free to download, but EA makes money from the game bylocking all thereallycool mechanics and cosmetics behind pricey Expansions, Game, and Stuff Packs. If you want the full Sims experience and the maximum amount of freedom to play the game the way you’ve always dreamed of, you have to pay up. Expansion Packs cost $50, Game Packs $25, Stuff Packs $13, and smaller Kits are $7. The money adds up, even if you buy the game’s bundles or grab them in one of the frequent sales.
EA continues to profit by regularly releasing Packs, which its healthy and dedicated community of players are usually more than happy to shell out for. But if it wants to reach more players, it has to dangle a carrot. People who casually like The Sims 4, but aren’t playing regularly, are not spending enough money on DLC. How does EA want to draw them in? By offering them free, virtual items if they form a consistent Sims 4 habit. That’s not shady or bleak at all!
The Rewards Aren’t Even Unique
I don’t play The Sims 4 enough to be able to evaluate the value of these items, but thankfully, there are people out there who can. Content creator SatchOnSimsdid some analysis of the leaked itemsand concluded, unsurprisingly, that these items aren’t even new or special – they’re mostly colour swatches or slightly altered DLC items. If you already own the packs these items are drawing from, you’re getting at best a slight variation on things you already have, in return for you logging in several times a week, every week.
These login rewards are free, yes, and players who decide to engage with the Login Events in this way willtechnicallybe getting stuff for very little buy-in on their part, even if they choose to just claim the rewards and not actually play the game. But as the old saying goes, if you’re not paying for something, you are the product. EA, like most corporations, never does anything it doesn’t benefit from, as we’ve seen countless times over the years. Implementing a ‘battle pass’ in a game that doesn’t need it is just the latest way it’s choosing to take advantage of its players.
The Sims 4
WHERE TO PLAY
Developed by Maxis, The Sims 4 is a life simulation game in the vein of its predecessors. It launched in 2014, becoming one of the biggest-selling PC games of that year. In 2022, the base game became free-to-play, while paid DLC continues to be released on a regular basis.
