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The Sims 3: now with more ads

"With an abundance of expansions and spin-offs, it's no secret that the Sims franchise is huge for Electronic Arts." (Brendan Sinclair, Gamespot)

Today EA opened the doors to its official new Sims 3 website with a few screenshots (the above video depicts reputed screenies of the game) and some marketing-chit-chat. According to Gamespot, EA’s CFO Warren Jenson announced the franchise’s 3rd part as “a fiscal ‘09 title… , meaning the game would hit stores before April 2009.”

A few highlights of Sims 3, as reported by Wayfarerwings.com will be: “Less micromanagement of your Sim — there will only be 3 attribute bars to keep up with rather than the 8 we have now… More focus on developing the neighborhood as a whole… More personality customization...” and “Opportunities — somewhat like mini-quests that you can choose to undertake with your Sim (think MMORPG style)”. Another addition will be – more ads, as Gamespot has it: “While EA will enter into agreements with advertisers for The Sims, Seabolt said the publisher is very choosy about how it goes about that and is careful to make sure it’s something players will welcome. For example, he mentioned a promotion that saw Sims players receive an in-game Ford Mustang. While Ford did pay EA for the product placement, Seabolt said many users looked at the car simply as a cool gift for their Sims to drive, not an ad.”

While Steve Seabolt, EA’s vice president for global brand development of The Sims label, is probably right that ads can add realism and flavor to a virtual world, one has to wonder if players who already payed for a title still want to be pestered with advertising. Even without such added revenue-streams, the Sims continues to be a cash-cow for EA, with the 100 millionth unit about to be sold this month. 

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