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Good News for Early Access Sims Creators!

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POLICYupdate

EA spokeperson confirmed that Early Access for The Sims 4 CC can stay!

A few days ago EA has published a new modding policy for The Sims 4.

The New Policy focused on two things:

  • CC Monetization Allowance and Rules
  • Branding Prohibiton

The Monetization Update for CC Creators mentioned that players are not allowed to monetize directly through offers, but exclusively through donations. Any content that players release should be released for free, “regardless of whether they donate.”.

Naturally, this official statement from EA made many believe that Early Access Content is affected too.

Some of your favorite CC Creators who respect the Guidelines like to release Early Access CC / Mods Content to their followers / supporters. Specifically through Patreon, which is very popular in this community.

However, the statement from EA made plenty of fair CC Creators rework their strategies and make a decision.

In fact, EA’s entire statement has made a huge scramble in the entire community for this game. Only for EA to confirm that Early Access is allowed.

The following statement was shared on Gamespot:

“The Sims team has just updated the The Sims 4 Mods FAQ to clarify that all users must be able to access Mods in full for free,” an EA representative told GameSpot. “However creators may still run a reasonable early-access period for their content.”

– EA for Gamespot

This statement was shared after several EA Help Customer Service employees confirmed that Early Access is not allowed, and that they have checked.

EA also updated the official policy, which now states the following:

THE SIMS POLICY ON MODS

We know that for many of you, Mods are an important part of your game experience.  For that reason, we support a framework in The Sims 4 that makes it easier for you to install and use Mods.

The Sims team doesn’t pre-screen, endorse or specifically support any particular Mod. You should use Mods with caution and understand there may be risk.

We have a long tradition of supporting creativity in our community.  We do not object to Mod developers continuing to share their amazing content, subject to the following:

  1. Do not promote your Mods in a way that suggests they are endorsed by or affiliated with The Sims, Maxis, or Electronic Arts. This means you cannot use any game logos or trademarks, including versions of the plumbob, or key art designs to promote your Mods. You may state that your Mods are for The Sims 4 and/or for a specific game expansion pack.
  2. Mods must be non-commercial and distributed free-of-charge. Mods cannot be sold, licensed, or rented for a fee, nor can Mods contain features that would support monetary transactions of any type.

    Note, The Sims recognizes that creating Mods takes time and resources. To recoup these development costs, Mod developers may:
    • Offer an early access incentive for a reasonable amount of time. After a reasonable early access period, all users must be able to access the Mods in full for free regardless of whether they donate.
    • Run passive advertisements and requests for donations so long as they are limited to the Mod website or distribution site, and do not appear within the Mod itself.

We reserve the right to address any inappropriate Mods, including Mods that infringe the intellectual property or privacy rights of others, contain obscene, objectionable, or harmful content, jeopardize the integrity of The Sims 4 gameplay, or otherwise violate the EA User Agreement.


Although I’m very happy about the decision for Early Access content to remain for fair creators who follow the rules, I’m still worried. How did EA not know their audience well enough and that many Creators have turned CC and Modding into their full time Careers?

This all has caused such a tumble in the community, mostly for nothing.

We didn’t even get to celebrate paywalling not being a thing anymore. LOL


What do you think? Join the conversation below!

About the author

Jovan

Reticulating splines as a webmaster for Sims Community over the last 11 years. You can find me here writing articles and doing reports on your favorite life sim games, among other things!