New Sims Rebrand Explained: Why EA Could Drop ‘The Sims 4’ for a Fresh Identity

Anything but fixing the game breaking bugs and broken DLCs.

I don’t like the rebrand. I’ve also been playing since the beginning, though I was 6~7 when I started with TS1. I don’t like them removing the “4”, I don’t like the new visual language and I don’t like the idea of making the Sims into an entertainment platform or whatever. I don’t want Roblox or Fortnite, I want the Sims. I’m a grown lady in my thirties, I’m really not the target demographic for this, and this definitely makes it more clear to me that the Sims wants teens and tweens more than their previous fanbase who has spent 20+ years with them and much and many money.

The advertising and the general branding is the exact kind that I really don’t like. It’s the kind that posits itself as being “inclusive” and “diverse” without doing anything because society sees these things as emblems of “progressiveness”. It’s always the same, you’ve got women with short hair (ideally dyed fun colours!), people with interesting makeup, the vague 2000s aesthetic, bright colours and and rounded text. Everyone is young and even when they’re not conventional, they’re still unconventionally attractive with smooth skin and fun poses. There is unlikely to be a disabled person in sight, and if there is then they are still modelesque “in spite of” their disability. It is all the same branding and it all means the same thing: we’re not like other brands, we’re a fun and inclusive brand for Gen Z! The Sims is not the first and will not be the last to do this kind of marketing. People are welcome to say “but the Sims actually is inclusive!”, but they’re still missing so many other types of inclusion. For years and years I, and many other disabled Simmers, have been begging for some kind of representation. We got hearing aids and insulin pumps, but no walking sticks like there have been in previous games, no potential for any kind of wheelchair. The female Sims also still patently suck, with all Sims having lordosis and male body hair patterns made available for female Sims with no option of female body hair patterns. Female Sims can’t even have mastectomy scars because cancer is too serious and can’t have representation (silly goose, those are top surgery scars, can’t have you thinking they’re potential representation for someone else who might have those scars!), but Sims drowning and burning to death are rated teen.

Similarly, I’m worried about them leaning in to the “finding yourself” thing. Yes, as a lesbian I did have some ideas from playing the Sims, but I was a child/teen and I was also playing with occult Sims and destroying Sims’ lives. I don’t want it to be a “find your own identity!” simulator, I want weird escapism. I don’t want to be reminded of the struggles I have irl with being a lesbian, I don’t want pride flag reminders of real world issues, I want a game where I can play it so everyone is equal and there is no need for that struggle. I want escapism from a world that sucks right now, not for that world to be reflected right back at me. I get that most people start with a self Sim, and I do have a self Sim that I don’t play with but stick in some save files because I think it’s funny to see me wandering around, but I don’t want the Sims to become an avatar focussed game, especially as my self Sim doesn’t really represent me (I can’t walk unaided or use stairs, for example).

I know this is an essay, and a potentially controversial one at that, but I really felt like I needed to share this somewhere, especially after being a longtime visitor here without writing a comment before. I think this rebrand is a mistake for the Sims franchise. I think they’re going to keep with it, though – they even lied in the quote and said people were happy and excited not just with the initial rebrand but also the Sims movie, and I’ve seen no one excited about either, just people hesitantly saying “maybe you’ll get used to it” or “maybe it won’t be that bad”. When that’s the majority of “praise”, I think I know why they’re deluding themselves otherwise (besides it’d be a waste of $$$$$$ to turn back now). I hope people understand where I’m coming from with this comment. It’s not from hate, it’s from deep concern about the Sims and about other aspects I’ve touched on, and so much more I don’t want to get into. It’s felt like the Sims has been continually pushing out older players – both age and time playing – and this really feels like the culmination of this. This is for attracting a new audience, not for their already existing one. It’s not for adults who played The Sims (1), it’s for teens who want to make trendy tiktok Sims. It’s for trying to get the same position as Fortnite and Roblox, not for anyone who wants to play alone and with their imagination.

(The only thing I do like is the plumbobs with the flowers, I think those are really pretty…but I’ve seen them now and the rest of the rebrand is still bad despite that.)