We, the players, creators, modders, builders, storytellers, and long-time supporters of The Sims franchise, are calling on EA to remove The Sims 4 Marketplace completely.

For years, The Sims community has thrived because of the creativity, generosity, and spirit of collaboration amongst the Sims community. Custom content has never simply been a throw away addon for the game. It has been one of the main reasons the game has remained alive, especially during periods where players felt overlooked, frustrated, or disappointed by official releases. Custom Content and Mod creators, many of whom share their work freely or through fair and voluntary support systems such as Patreon, have helped keep this game culturally relevant while EA continues to profit from the strength of the franchise.

The Marketplace is extremely exploitative and predatory as it introduces a system that places EA as the main gatekeeper over a community that was functioning without this level of corporate control. The adage of the virtual currency Moola is absolutely egregious as it makes spending feel far removed from real money while encouraging players to enter into an unnecessary in-app economy; in other words, this is a money grab. To add insult to injury, EA are offering creators an unfairly low share of 30% in comparison to the value of the work they produce, while EA takes the larger portion of 70% despite not being the ones designing the custom content or mods, which players would be expected to go and purchase.

Many players see it for what it is; an attempt to monetise a space that was built by the community, sustained by the community, and loved by the community long before this Marketplace existed. Players are especially alarmed because The Sims 4 has already been criticised for the constant haemorrhaging of expensive dissected packs, persistent bugs, weak to non-existent quality control, and repeated examples of the community being ignored. Against that backdrop, introducing a Marketplace tied to premium currency is not showing support for the players, it is more or less a company trying to extract even more money from a player base that has already carried this franchise for years.

EA’s angle on this, that they are using to try and manipulate players into buying into the Marketplace scheme is them stating that console players will finally get the opportunity to have access to custom content. On the offset, it sounds like an amazing gesture, but what the fine print does not reveal is that, if custom content has been previously forced on creators to be made available for free to players under EAs T.O.U. By the premise of the creation of The Sims Maker Program; is this not proof that EA were able to make it possible for console players to access custom content and possibly mods for free via this same system? This would have meant console players would have been enjoying access to CC and possibly mods too in the same way as PC and Mac players. What this actually reveals is that, EA has always been able to accommodate player’s needs DLC wise as well as have console players be included in all aspects of the game including having access to custom content, but due to their focus on their bottom line, they chose not to, and opted for maximising on profits over the games creativity that would benefit the players, who might I add are the reason why EA and the sims team are able to have jobs today. Without the players, EA would be nothing, and the sims team would have no jobs.

 

We are therefore calling on EA to take the following actions.

 

We are therefore demanding the complete removal of The Sims 4 Marketplace, the removal of Moola from this ecosystem, and a clear commitment from EA NOT to revive this model under another name or in another form. We are also calling for the protection of free custom content culture and creator independence, without corporate systems designed to absorb, regulate, and profit from what the community has built for itself.

Players have tolerated broken patches, inconsistent quality, expensive content DLCs, ignored feedback, and repeated disappointments because of their love for The Sims franchise. The Sims community has shown remarkable patience over the years. That patience should not be mistaken for weakness, and our loyalty should never be mistaken for endless permission to exploit the player base.

We want EA to acknowledge clearly that the Sims community is not merely a revenue stream to be squeezed, but a creative ecosystem made up of real people whose loyalty has already been tested far too many times.

We want custom content creators and mod creators to continue independently releasing their content, and to be protected, rather than undermined by a corporate storefront.

We are signing this petition because we refuse to accept the corporate takeover of a creative culture that has long belonged to the community and one that threatens the spirit of the Sims community. We are asking EA to STOP, listen, and choose a path that respects both creators and players instead of placing profit above its consumers. We do not want this system reworked or explained to us. We simply want it GONE!

That is our message, take it down, or we take you down!

 

WATCH MY VIDEO BREAKING IT ALL DOWN

MARKETPLACE THE MONEY GRAB THAT NEEDS SHUTTING DOWN