The Sims 4 Chose A Terrible Time To Roll Out Paid Mods Where EA Keeps 70 Percent Of The Money

EA has hit The Sims 4 with the enshittification bat in the worst and most predictable way possible: a maker space for paid add-ons. Earlier this week, EA announced that it’s adding an official in-game marketplace to The Sims 4. The shop launches on PC and Mac March 17th and will become Simmers’ one-stop shop for Sims 4 content, including expansion packs, official content packs, and, for the first time, custom content packs made by content creators. This is also the official rollout of Sims 4 mods on console, as the marketplace will also launch on Xbox and PS5 at a later date.

For most lifers still playing The Sims 4, a centralized, in-game marketplace is probably welcome news. The Sims 4 is a dense game, made denser by the hundreds of content packs and pieces of DLC EA puts out every year. On top of that, there’s an immense network of creators dedicated to making and sharing their own designs, known as custom content or simply “cc.” Offering them an official way to monetize their labor also seems like a good idea. Additionally, players have clamored for mods on console for years. The Sims 4, like Skyrim and Fallout, is a game with a legendary modding community; the arrival of the marketplace opens up that hallowed tradition to console players.

But all the excitement of a new marketplace and what it offers content creators and console players has been overshadowed. That’s because buying all the fancy new kits, packs, cc, and more requires players to purchase EA’s new proprietary, in-game currency called Moola, and players are pissed. “It literally makes me sick, to the point that I might not even buy any Sims 4 packs ever again,” wrote one user on the Sims 4 forums.

The Saudi Arabia connection

The Sims 4 community hasn’t been all that happy with the game of late. Players have long complained of performance and bug issues and that EA has been slow to address them. They’re also not happy with the game’s numerous paid content packs that seem to keep coming even as player complaints go unaddressed. But perhaps the biggest reason for player animosity is the fact that EA is in the midst of a sale to Saudi Arabia. The Sims 4 is a queer-ass, diverse-ass game. Saudi Arabia is not a queer- or human-rights-friendly country. And though EA has said it will retain creative control of its titles, players are still concerned, to the point some big name creators in the Sims community have stepped away from the game.

But one of the keys to understanding why EA is launching the microtransaction marketplace now, in the midst of cratering player sentiment, is hidden within the terms of the sale. The Saudi Arabian government, with the help of American business-ghoul Jared Kushner, is purchasing EA for $55 billion dollars, 20 billion of which will be financed by EA that it will then take on as debt. Yeah, everything EA produces is likely to get hit with the microtransaction bat. 

In the marketplace announcement blog, EA attempted to explain the decision. “Using virtual currency works more smoothly across platforms and regions, keeps pricing consistent for players worldwide,” the company wrote. Hitting the big ole’ microtransaction button has been a revenue-generating tactic for gaming companies for years now, but EA has been particularly terrible with them.

EA’s reputation of implementing microtransactions is so bad that the company’s Wikipedia entry has an entire section dedicated to how much the company sucks at it. Even without EA’s sordid history with them, players hate the very idea of them. In a thread on the official Sims 4 forums that asks players if they would use the marketplace, one user wrote, “Absolutely not. I’m not going to support microtransactions.”

EA gets a 70-percent cut

EA also said that virtual currency would ensure cc creators were paid on time and “fairly.” A few sections above that, the company shared the revenue split with creators. “Makers take home approximately 30 percent of the Moola from their Pack sales.” Damn. Even Twitch lets you walk away with at least 50 percent.

Even the console players, the ones who ostensibly are getting the best deal out of this whole thing, are pissed, and it’s easy to understand why. After years of asking for the wealth of Sims 4 custom content to be brought to console, they’ve finally got their wish but at a price. Some creators will undoubtedly offer their marketplace wares for free, but the majority of it will be premium. 

“We wanted to have a similar experience to PC players like in Ark, Minecraft, Fallout 4 and Skyrim,” wrote a user in the official Sims 4 Discord. “Instead, EA chose the worst parts of each and combined them into this abomination.”

EA isn’t doing the scummy thing and making future official game kits only available through the marketplace. You’ll still be able to buy kits on PS5, Xbox, and elsewhere with cash. You’ll also still be able to get your mods outside the marketplace, but players are rightfully concerned that this move might herald a future where that isn’t the case.

“This is all just to prep people for the inevitable ‘only supported mods/cc will be through our marketplace,’” wrote Kechi, a simmer, on Bluesky. The Sims 4 modding community is huge. Though EA has restrictions on how creators can sell their work, legions of creators make a living through modding. A company 20 billion dollars in the hole is gonna look for all the ways it can to plug that hole.