Love it or hate it, we’re getting a new marketplace and a new Moola currency in our games very soon.
Sims 4 Marketplace Reactions
About The Sims 4 Marketplace
Set to debut on March 17, 2026 on PC and Mac, and coming later this year to PS and Xbox, this Marketplace introduces a new ecosystem where players can discover and buy curated content using Moola, and creators now have a new way to share and monetise their work through the Sims Maker Program.
Members of this new maker program will be able to release their own maker packs, getting a portion of the sales, so it potentially opens a new revenue opportunity for CC creators.
EA provides support, tools and guidelines so that their maker packs work smoothly in game; those accepted into the program receive a share of the Moola from sales of their content, and EA reviews each submission for quality, safety and rating-appropriate content.
Creators stand to make 30% of the revenue from their marketplace products and maker packs.
We’ve done a full Q&A official breakdown of this new marketplace system which you can read here.
What is Moola?
Moola is the new digital currency specific to the Marketplace.
Players can obtain Moola directly through purchasing it on the marketplace. Meaning you have to use real currency to buy Moola.
The Sims 4 Marketplace Reactions: Buzz and Concerns
The announcement has sparked heated discussion among players. Some are excited at the idea of official custom content and opportunities for console players to access – things previously limited to PC/Mac.
However, there’s also debate about the nature of this being paywalled content. Simmers worry that introducing Moola as a new exclusive currency may make custom content feel like micro-transactions in a community that has enjoyed free mods and custom content since the games release over 25 years ago.
Others are uneasy that a revenue share for creators is balanced against the convenience and exposure of an official platform, as well as discussion about the fairness of the revenue split on Marketplace purchases.
Instagram: “so basically the sims 3 store”
Comments across the Sims 4 official Instagram are anything but complimentary, aside from the odd excited console player.
X: “Are they serious?”
Fans on X are disappointed, skeptical and vocal with their opinions.
YouTube: “We’ve been dreading this day for years”
A major theme throughout the comments is criticism of microtransactions. Several users respond sarcastically, suggesting they are not surprised by the addition of more paid features.
There are also concerns that the marketplace will lead to intrusive in-game advertising – like the infamous shopping cart pop-up.
Facebook: “Honestly it’s about time”
Fans on Facebook were much more complimentary with their sims 4 marketplace reactions.
Commenters from console players praise this latest announcement highlighting this is the first time they’ve been able to add custom content to their games.
COMMUNITY POLL: Have your say!
Let us know what your thoughts on this new Sims 4 marketplace are using our unofficial community poll below. And see how other players have voted in the Results section!
This is a controversial update, and understandably people have strong opinions.
While this addition of a marketplace and new maker program has the potential to have more people use custom content and discover new creators, whilst also giving creators a new income stream, it is a bit worrisome the idea of locking custom content behind micro-transaction paywalls of a brand new currency when free custom content and mods from players has been a cornerstone of the game.
Let us know your thoughts below and stay tuned for more Sims News coverage.
well more things to hunt in the salty seas
I really hope these new items from the marketplace will be available in the seas.
I just think it’s funny that creators now sell their stuff instead of giving it away for free. I don’t think EA is the only scammer part here
The worst part about this, is this just makes it harder for creators getting donated to directly through things like patron. And will encourage toxic “business” practices. Or what I call the “Mods vs MC Marketplace” effect.
They are still able to make free content. This is more akin to a creator kit scenario where they can submit specific items to the marketplace if they want but they are still able to make free content or content specifically for their patreon.
So it’s not “I am now only creating content for Marketplace.” It’s “Hey guys I made this for item set that you can get on Marketplace for X amount of moola if you want.”
And given it’s a full time job for some of them I’m not mad at them diversifying their income streams.
The problem with that is EA wants exclusivity without making it worth my time. Any object or set I would create for the marketplace, I can not publish anywhere else. That’s time I won’t be getting back, and that I can’t spend on free or Patreon stuff.
Considering that they take 70% of the earnings it’s just not worth it to waste time on those exclusives when I could get more from a Patreon/Curseforge combo without making people buy play money to grab my stuff.
It feels predatory as both creator and user imo. Like, EA just swoops in and squeezes both sides out for some more cash that they didn’t lift a finger to earn themselves.
I’m not saying the pricing model is good just that it is not the case of “if you make stuff for the marketplace you can’t make stuff outside of it.”
We can be angry about the actual business model without just making stuff up to complain about.
Like yeah the exploitative nature of the pricing and business model is ridiculous. That is a valid thing to get angry about.
But claiming that CC creators can’t make free content anymore is just untrue. By saying stuff like that people are taking away from valid complaints.
Yeah, that 30p they will get us going g to support them.
this is not about the cc creators earning money (if it was they should be getting more than 30% – what an actual joke), its about sims trying to increase profits while doing less because no one is wanting to spend over $1500 on broken janky DLC. the sims has slowly but surely been ruined and this is just adding salt to the wound with the buy out just around the corner.
I feel that..EA simply found a way to stop developing The Sims 4 further while still making money from it — not through their own work but by exploiting creators.
So you know fans don’t want this by an overwhelming majority and you’re doing it anyway? Wow. Okay. You’ll never see another dime from me because of this. Pack it up yall, The Sims 4 is dead.
I’d go as far as to say sims as a franchise is dead. Although once it changes hands and there are no more investors to please things could become better.
I wish they’d given us more warning/lead-time. Now I have to scramble to decide which Kits I want the most, that I can afford to get by the 17th, and which I’ll just never end up having. Ugh.
If you are on desktop… just don’t waste your money at all.
Love how my comments were cropped out from YouTube. Let’s be honest. Microtransactions are the LAST thing anyone needs. I am a content creator and I feel very unhappy about this. The game has been unplayable for so many people. Quit pumping out new stuff and FIX THE BASE GAME CODE.
Can’t believe how EA found a way to milk the community’s money without even needing any devs to work on the game anymore, indefinitely.. and give creators 30% only for their own work…
“as a console player”
honk shooooo I’m so sick of console players and their whining about not having mods. It’s nobody’s fault but your own for buying a crappy port of a PC game for a last gen console and then complaining you can’t mod it.
Get a decent rig with all that money you throw at EA for garbage microtransactions. Sims 4 should never have been ported to console.
You sound like a very entitled PC player who has no consideration for people’s possible circumstances. Some people might not have the funds to get a PC or even the space. Consoles are more accessible for a lot of people. Try being a kinder person and stop looking down on console players.
I agree with you, Crispy. Personally, I’m not in current standing to buy a PC just yet, and I’m pretty sure it’s like that for most console players too. Many games besides TS4 have console ports too, and you’re just being an ass rn lol.
Console players are not the enemy, this is launching first on PC. We’re all in this together, hating on console players doesn’t change EA’s “charge for everything” mindset.
Oh grow up, just because your mommy still buys you what ever you tantrum for, doesn’t mean we all asleep spoiled little pants fillers. No one wants this crap in their game, not console and not PC. Maybe YOU love micro transactions but again, you are using your mommy’s money and not your own. When you get all grown up, you will hate microtransactions too! Toodle Poodle.
EA, you’ve taken our money for a long time, and you still can’t even make your game bug-free. Many bugs keep happening because of base game features, again and again for years.
Now you’ve created a system where you’re not only making money from players, but also from content creators. Why do I need to spend so much to complete the game with all these Expansions, Packs, and Kits and now even buy mods that used to be free?
You’re pushing a sharing community into a business model where everyone is expected to profit from it.
You did not need to spend on e ery dlc, you chose to. There is no ending to sims games.
EA being bunch of greedy bastards, nothing new. I knew it was a matter of time, that they would try this. Why fix your broken-ahh game, when you can just slap some microtransactions on top of it and continue milking that cow. Y’know EA, this is why we keep losing faith in humanity. On top of horrible things happening right now, YOU strut in and enshittify our game, our outlet of escaping this hellish reality. I guess this is a good metaphor, that you cannot escape corporate evil.
My fellow modders and cc makers, I urge you, DO NOT JOIN THIS BS PROGRAM! IT’S NOT WORTH IT! I’d rather give away my cc for FREE, rather than becoming a slave to EA, and let them control my creativity, and then STEAL 70% of my earnings there. If you have a sliver of dignity and self worth, I expect you to not post your cc and mods there.
Have to say one thing: The best EA ever made, Kits, were destroyed by this nonsense! I’m quit! I geuss, I never again will spend my money. It’s your own fault, EA!
i think this is gonna flop tbh. i do respect the idea of compensating modders for their work, but most modders who want that already do it via early access patreon posts and such, and considering the negative reaction i imaging a lot of cc creators won’t even want to sign up if it’ll make them unpopular LMAO. not a fan of the idea, but i don’t think it’s gonna signal a new micro transaction driven future for the game.
From this point onwards, Sims is an acronym for:
Simulation
Inspired
Monetisation
System
The gag is no matter how much yall boycott ea and how strongly you against that market place, it wont harm their profit at all. If there is a supply, there will be demand. Market place will make money off of ignorant white “gamer” girls, who play on their boyfriends rigs and would gladly buy cute cottage-core outfits for female sims. Also console players, who got no other choice but to buy CC will make great money. Market place, that ea will imploment is not meant for a wide audience, but for a small percentage of people who will make big purchases all the time. This is the same way all those wack mobile games make money. They only need small group of people to buy their stuff constantly, and not a regular players who would make small, rare purchases. Im honestly so upset, i play this game since 2022 and haven’t even touched almost 70% of the content from DLCs i have bought. Was hoping i would set up my save gile and start exploring the game, but now got no interes in playing, seeing how the devs treat their players.
There are millions of players worldwide, so not all negative comments are necessarily representative of everyone. The truth is, some players are compulsive buyers; they constantly crave new content. If there are no more game packs, they’ll turn to kits for new clothes, makeup, hairstyles (which are in high demand from creators), furniture, and so on. So I don’t believe for a minute that this will flop. Time will tell. This won’t stop EA from launching Project X and monetizing it aggressively; many mobile games operate this way. I feel truly sad to see the game end like this. I’m starting to hope that the time between the end of The Sims and Project X will be short; seeing this agony makes me sick.
Dude, why you gotta hate on white ‘gamer’ girls? Anyone who likes games can be called a gamer, it’s not some weirdly official label reserved for a certain type or group of people. It should be used as an inclusive term. While there are players like those you described, there are plenty of guys or others who are just as bad and will defend this game and EA to the end, buying anything they can get their hands on. Some of them are creators in the network too who refuse to leave no matter what and are loving the opportunity now to get more attention with the big names gone. It’s not white girls, it’s just people in general.
Don’t let others influence your playing. You have the game and whatever packs so play and enjoy them.
It’s comical how shameless and pathetic this all is. But also, I think most of the shame should go to the people who happily dish out money for this stuff. Or the creators willingly going along with letting EA sell their content and take most of the money. The ONLY reason it’s gotten this bad is because of all the super fans who will shell out all the money they can to collect everything, no matter how poor quality the packs are. I can’t wait for this franchise to end forever.
That’s what I was saying earlier: there are compulsive buyers. Yesterday, I read a comment from a player who said she didn’t like the Prairie Dreams kit, but bought it because she buys absolutely everything, thinking it might come in handy someday. Imagine what it will be like with future kits! Considering the millions of players worldwide, there will always be demand, especially if there are no more game packs.
With everything else that is wrong about this that 30% is an absolute slap in the face to creators.
Honestly they should be paying the creators a full yearly coder’s salary. The game is unplayable without creators who fix the game. Creators have been fixing the game for years. I just want them to stop updating it, so my free content creators can stop needing to fix their mistakes again. If I want something I’ll pay someone directly, or I just won’t have any more CC. I hate fake money gotcha scam crap.
Modders don’t fix anything. they only tweak their code when ea drops more stuff and shock, uses their own coding.
I just wish for Paralives to be a good replacement for the sims whem it releases this spring. So the sims can just crash and burn.
I’m also waiting for my Parafolks <3
What makes either of you believe paralives will drop? We’ve been dancing to that tune for years.
Content creators should get at the very least 75% of the revenue accumulated from the sale of their creations, any less is insulting
From a console player perspective, the first mention of being able to get CC through the marketplace was pretty exciting as it was something that I always wanted to have in my game. However, after learning about the poor cuts in revenue between Ea and Makers, the cost of the packs for the items you get and the introduction of yet another pay wall (moola) the marketplace does not look as favourable. Ive always loved the sims, but it’s not been the same for a while. The community is more divided than ever, Maxis is now overseen by heads in Ea and ultimately I think this has severely resulted in a change in the overall culture of what once was the sims. Prior to this, it was about nurtring and caring for your community, and now the sims have heavily adopted a financial mindset and a desire just to keep earning revenue. I do think this could of been done In a different way, such as maybe lowering the cost of moola, or not having it at all and offering content for free, or making the cut 85% for makers and 15% for Ea, seeming as they are putting in little to no effort. We will have to see how it pans out.
This is an awful decision and the 30% to the creators is a slap in the face when they can just do normal cc. You will lose more players with this.
I only play vanilla but I create and share with cc. Will I use marketplace…respectfully, no
The fact they thought it was a good idea to add one of the things most criticized from the sims 3 to TS4 is so laughable it’s astounding. I really hope the Sims gets bought by an actual decent company because this is ridiculous
I have an idea! What if you can create a kit pack where it’s all based off 2000s culture, MySpace, and actual emo/scene fashion?! That would be so awesome and amazing that’ll make me scream! AHHHHH!!!
Hey! I enjoy reading about the community reaction to Sims announcements and releases. It’s a great indicator of the strongest feelings in the fanbase. I hope you post more about these, like the current lofi promo. It’s a shame to see the lack of awareness to people’s needs at the moment.