EA: 125 Million Unit-Selling Sims Franchise 'Gaining Momentum' On 10th Anniversary

Electronic Arts is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its The Sims franchise, whose three core installments and expansion packs combine to reach 125 million units sold worldwide. The first Sims game launched February 4, 2000, and it was followed by The Sims 2 in September 2004. The highly-anticipated The Sims 3 launched in June 2009, sold 1.3 million units in its first week alone, and was last year's global top-selling PC game. It's now sold more than 4.5 million units to date, EA revealed today. The company also says The Sims 3's online content exchange has driven 110 million downloads "in a matter of months" for the game, and its community website sees 6 million monthly unique visitors who've uploaded 1.8 million pieces of content and 20 movies per hour. New platforms are also significant to the franchise's expansion, EA says. The Sims 3 iPhone app was 2009's top seller on the App Store, and topped the paid app charts in 40 countries during last year. To date, says EA, the franchise as a whole has generated over $2.5 billion in revenue. It's available in 60 countries and 22 languages. "The future of The Sims is going to be a lot of fun," says EA Play label head Rod Humble. "It is rare for an entertainment franchise to be gaining momentum a decade after release, so this is a particularly pleasant moment for everyone who has worked on the games," says EA Play label head Rod Humble."