Happy 25th birthday to one of my all-time favorite games, The Sims! The SimCity spinoff, which Margot Robbie is currently producing a movie version of, is officially old enough to rent a car. In honor of its silver anniversary, People did an interview with two creatives who have worked on the games since almost the beginning, Lyndsay Pearson, a VP for the franchise who initially served as a QC tester for the OG Sims game, and David Miotke, a production director of almost 20 years. During their talk, Pearson and Miotke discussed The Sims’ legacy, the way it has helped players process real-life trauma and how players’ desire to be represented led to the different expansion packs.
You can be whoever you want to be: “It’s always been part of the DNA of The Sims because our goal is that every person on the planet should be able to represent themselves the way they want in this game,” Dave Miotke, who has been a production director for The Sims since 2007, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Obviously we’re not there, but it’s always on our mind as a very important goal that everybody should be able to see themselves in this game.”
How representation within the game came about: “[In] The Sims 1 it was really difficult to keep those Sims alive, so there wasn’t as much focus at the time necessarily on self-expression, but that’s where players started to push it,” Pearson recounts. “And they started to mod it. They started to use Sims 1 tools to put in their own skins and outfits, and you really got the sense that like, oh, people are projecting into this, this layer of storytelling and expression that we didn’t foresee.”
She says that development from the first game’s players made them “more cognizant” of players’ desires to see themselves in the game, so the developers became “more intentional” in inclusion. “We’re seeking different points of view, different backgrounds, different experiences, and trying to reflect them. It’s not a one-for-one, but it’s like, how do we take commonalities across experiences and find what is the same that can give you a starting point to let you infer and map out your personal experience?”
Creating a safe space: The games have also created a safe space for players to experiment with some of life’s common threads, adding a bit of “zaniness” to even more morbid or taboo topics. Death, for example, has been part of the game’s DNA since its beginning. Even as the goal evolved from keeping the Sims alive to creating a sandbox for the players to experiment in, many who have played The Sims have a murderous anecdote.
Who hasn’t killed a Sim or two for funsies: “Every time I meet different teams or we have meetings with other companies, people are always like, ‘I have to tell you that I definitely drowned a Sim at some point,’ “ Pearson recounts. “I was like, ‘Don’t worry, everybody does.’ “
A good proxy for processing real-world topics: “I think it allows you to touch on important serious real-world topics, but in a way that’s super approachable,” Miotke says. “So whether you’re talking about death or sexuality or self-discovery or expression, The Sims is like a playground to experiment with those things. It can be really serious topics, but you’re able to do it in a way that feels playful and takes some of that seriousness away from it. I’ll start crying if I talk about some of the stories of people that have helped get through concepts of death with The Sims and their loved ones.”
A world of pure imagination: “There’s some magic in there that really speaks to your heart at that age and what you’re going through as a human and trying to figure out your place in the world that The Sims just unlocks all this potential to try on identities, experiment with what the world could be like, or what you want the world to be like,” Pearson comments.
It means a lot to people: “The Sims is a game I think supersedes gaming, ’cause it is about life and it allows you to experiment and try things out in a super safe environment while still being zany and fun and silly,” Miotke says. “It’s very safe and approachable, but the way people connect with the game is pretty meaningful and not something that you typically see with video games. So it’s really surprising and special to see what it means to people.”
Simulation trendsetters: “I think something that’s easy to forget about The Sims is just how many things we did first. The Sims really changed what life simulation games were, and there’s lots of different flavors of that nowadays,” Pearson says. “I think that we have been at the forefront of representing a world that does have less judgment and more opportunity and more inclusivity in games.”
I love that they acknowledge how important it was for everyone to be able to see themselves represented in the game and that it also allowed people the freedom to experiment in a safe environment. (We all did that shaking love bed, right…?) That’s what I liked about it too, especially that second part, and I think that’s why The Sims and other simulation games like it got so popular. SimCity, SimTown, SimTower, The Sims…I played them all while I was growing up. The attraction was building and controlling these worlds you created. I created stories behind all of my Sims. It’s been a good decade since I last played a game of The Sims (I did The Sims Freeplay on my iPad), but this is making me want to dip my toes in it again. On a related note, you can actually download The Sims 4 for free. You’re welcome!
My all-time favorite video game!!! I’m currently playing Sims 4 and all its expansions, but I have played all the others as well. It gets more beautiful with each iteration. I agree that it has helped me process many things through the years. They recently added the Life & Death expansion to Sims 4 and I have been tinkering with it while thinking of my dad who passed away a few years back since it includes the topics of grief, legacy and life purpose/fulfillment. It’s a beautiful game. Glad to know you’re also into it!
My (now 30 year old) daughter used to play the heck out of the SIMS and I enjoyed watching her at times. I’m not a gamer, except Tetris, but I may have played SIMS if I was younger.
Oh man- I went hard on some Sims in my teens and early 20s lol
I picked it back up on my Xbox back in 2017/2018 while I was recovering from back to back surgeries, but after reading this I think I might have to take it back up again.
It’s soo addictive though lol