The Sims Celebrates Fifth Anniversary, Showcases Massive Sales

Officials from Electronic Arts are celebrating the fifth anniversary of The Sims franchise this month, releasing information on extremely impressive sales for the Will Wright-created series of games. Since February 2000, the series has been the best selling PC game in four out of the last five years and has spawned seven expansion packs, been translated into more than seventeen languages, and sold more than 54 million units world-wide. Last year’s The Sims 2 has become the fastest selling PC game of all time, with 4.5 million units in the last five months. The Sims 2 received over 20 editors' choice awards, perfect review scores and over 35 magazine covers worldwide. Most recently, it received the award for the Best Simulation Game at the 2005 D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas, awarded by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Players have also created over 125,000 Sims & Houses for The Sims 2, and uploaded them online to share with other players. The player-made Sims & Houses have been downloaded by over 5 million unique visitors from around the globe. The company's immediate plans for the series include The Sims 2 University expansion pack in March, followed by at least two more expansions and a sequel to the somewhat ambivalently received console title The Urbz.