Brian Renadette May 3rd, 2018 - 4:54 AM
Fans of The Sims have expressed concerns recently that development of The Sims 4 might end soon. Because of this, one of the public faces of the development team spoke out on the official Sims forums to address these rumors.
Some long-time fans of The Sims as a series see The Sims 4 as a bit of a backwards step for the series. Two of the common examples cited are the lack of a truly open world, instead requiring loading screens when travelling from area to area, and the elimination of the “Create a Style” system, which allowed players to customize their furniture and clothing with a variety of colors and patterns. Despite this reputation, fans are concerned over the fate of The Sims 4 after one of the SimGurus (a member of the development team that acts as a main point of contact for the community) left on April 18.
While having a single development team member leave the team isn’t necessarily a sign of the end times for a franchise, this departure has resulted in rumors flying over future layoffs in The Sims dev team. It doesn’t help that their community manager position is currently empty, as the last one, SimGuruDrake, left late February.
The unease from the fandom has become so pronounced, SimGuruGrant took to the official Sims forums to address their concerns. He explained that the concerns about the dev team being quieter than usual haven’t been ignored. The issue was that ever since SimGuruDrake “…chose to leave and pursue other opportunities… us SimGurus on the PC team have been asked to exercise additional careful judgement in what we say until that CM role is filled.” He then mentioned that he had brought up the fandom’s ‘general unrest’ in a recent meeting:
What was expressed to me was that, while we aren’t going to discuss or refute rumors and speculation point for point (which I’d really suggest approaching with a healthy dose of skepticism), it’s totally fine to reiterate publicly shared info that yes, The Sims 4 continues to be a genuine success, and there’s plenty to look forward to on the PC in the future.
