“They really do know how to target CC creators who are either greedy or financially struggling”
In a long message posted to their Tumblr page, Sims 4 creator Simandy announced that they would be leaving the new Marketplace and Maker Program after learning new information that was “not in accordance with my personal and my community’s values”.
She is now urging other creators to do the same, emphasising that they can “just get out”.
We are bringing you the latest updates from the new marketplace and maker program as they happen, so keep checking our dedicated pages for updates.
The Sims 4 Maker Program Creator Leaving
Who is Simandy?
Simandy is a Sims 4 creator who makes lots of maxis match style custom content, such as hair and clothing, often taking commissions from their followers.
Simandy’s Statement
In this statement, she explains that she was approached about a “project” – which we now know to be the new Maker Program – and that it was initially presented as an easy opportunity to earn extra money while continuing their usual content.
As the explanation continues, Simandy describes how the program operated and why it began to feel uncomfortable. She then goes on to describe how the organisers knew how to target creators who were either financially struggling or motivated to earn more money, and that the offer initially caught their attention. Over time, however, the expectations reportedly became stricter, with increasing pressure for perfection.
Another concerning element mentioned is that creators in the program were kept anonymous from each other and were told to treat the project as a secret, so people who signed up to the program have no idea how many of their fellow creators are going to be involved.
Below is the full statement she has shared on her Tumblr page about her leaving the program.
Okay, let’s go
I never hid anything from any of you (other than happy surprises) and this won’t be the first time, so:
They contacted us in the last year about this “project”. The idea sold to us creators was something like “do the same thing as you always do and earn extra money from us!”. Unfortunately i can’t say MANY things about it because there are contracts and i don’t want to risk it for being dumb. I’ve decided i would be OUT of this thing as soon as november and now I read stuff I really didn’t know about, all in here and from YOU, i made the last decision. There were many promises as they really do know how to target cc creators who are either greedy or financially struggling and I do admit that they caught my attention, but as the months got by and as they would ask more and more PERFECTION from us (note: i have no idea who else is at the program. They kept us all anonymous to each other by holding us accountable of “our little secret”) i noticed this thing wasn’t for me at all. I was REALLY just waiting for the bubble to burst or for them to announce it so I could finally be free to AT LEAST talk about it with you guys because i was SCARED of their contracts.
Simandy on Tumblr
Highlighting that she already had her mind made up about leaving the program as early as November last year shows this is also not a rushed decision, but one she has had to sit on for a long time until the day came for the program to be made public.
Possibly the most worrying part of the statement is when she mentions feeling scared to talk about this new marketplace. Understandably, a company as large as EA will have tight restrictions and lots of non-disclosure agreements given to creators, but no person entering into a contract or business deal should come away from the encounter feeling scared or worried about consequences.
Urging Others To Do The Same
The post was finished off with a direct message to other creators who are signed up to the Maker Program. A statement that, while showing her frustration and urgency to other creators, also has a degree of empathy for them not knowing the full extent of the situation when they signed up.
This is now a recommendation to all the other cc creators who were caught in their webs: get out. You can just get out. They can’t force you to stay. They can’t force you to disappoint your community. It’s OKAY to not know better. It’s okay to make poor decisions based on your needs. But you need to get out as soon as you know better, or else excuses aren’t gonna make you more palatable. Just stand up and get out.
Simandy on Tumblr
While also reminding people that creators are human, and to treat them with kindness.
By the way, i know this might make many people very mad about me or other cc creators. I already talked about me but, talking about the other guys, be gentle with creators you know aren’t greedy. They’re probably scared to breach information as well and probably don’t even know how to START to get out of it. So please be gentle. They’re real people as well and we never know what other people are going through.
Simandy on Tumblr
Impact On Content Availability
In another Tumblr post, she also explained that any custom content added to the Sims 4 marketplace cannot be posted elsewhere, so any content made for the marketplace is exclusive to that platform (and therefore permanently paywalled).
By the way, I hope this thing will make you guys more comfortable with pirating CC instead of surrendering to sites like curseforge etc. You probably won’t be able to even pirate the stuff that’s gonna be released on the marketplace, as the creators aren’t allowed to post the same cc they post to the marketplace elsewhere (like on patreon or simfileshare). It’s all made in a different format, not using sims4studio and with different files as well (not a single .blend or .png file). Take this as a restraint exercise for you.
Simandy on Tumblr
Reactions From The Sims 4 Community
Understandably, Simandy’s comments under this post have been full of support and thankful for the transparency, as well as shocked at the tactics mentioned regarding targeting creators who were struggling financially.
And a Reddit post on the subreddit r/HighSodiumSims, where many commenters praise them for backing out of the program and see it as an example of a creator pushing back against what they perceive as a problematic system.
Several users express hope that other creators will follow suit, arguing that an official marketplace controlled by EA could damage the long-standing culture of freely shared custom content in the Sims community.
As well as people hoping that the Marketplace will eventually fail, echoing Maxis’ alleged wishes.
What do you think about this ongoing situation? Do you think other creators will take Simandy’s advice/warnings and also leave the program? Let us know.
I wasn’t sold on this Marketplace thing, but EA approaching creators in such a predatory way… I’m not surprised but I’m disgusted
It’s giving we’re too lazy to make our own content, so we’ll fob it off on creators who’ve always made better content while paying them slave wages. Its abysmal and I’m glad she’s backed out and hope others do the same. They’re worth way more than 30 percent as without them I know for a fact the Sims 4 would’ve died a long time ago. While I don’t use as much cc as I used to there was times, I only bought the new pack in anticipation of what creators were going to make so yeah. They def have the upper hand imo.