The Sims Statistics 2026: Players, Revenue & Franchise Records

The Sims 4 has 85 million players after going free-to-play. The franchise has sold 200 million copies. See the latest Sims stats, including EA's $55 billion acquisition.

Oliver GrantUpdated:

The Sims turned 25 in 2025 — and it is in a stranger position than at any point in its history. The player base hit 85 million after a bold free-to-play gamble in 2022. The franchise has sold 200 million copies across four mainline games. And the company that owns it, EA, was acquired for $55 billion by a Saudi-led consortium. Here are the verified numbers behind one of gaming’s most enduring franchises.

The Sims key statistics

  • 85 million total players in The Sims 4 as of May 2024 — the most in franchise history.
  • 31 million new players joined when the base game went free-to-play in October 2022.
  • 15 million additional new players were added in 2024 alone.
  • 200 million+ copies sold across all Sims games.
  • $1 billion+ in Sims 4 revenue by 2019.
  • 1.6 billion Sims created by players since 2000.
  • $55 billion — EA’s acquisition price, announced September 2025.

The Sims 4 players

The Sims 4 has over 85 million players — the most in franchise history

(Source: EA Investor Relations, May 2024; IGN)

  • The Sims 4 reached 85 million total players worldwide as of May 2024, across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
  • This makes it the most widely played game in the 23-year history of The Sims franchise — a title EA officially conferred in a 2023 IR press release when the game crossed 70 million.
  • EA additionally announced that 15 million new players joined in 2024 alone, a remarkable figure for a game released in 2014.

The Sims 4 spent its first eight years as a paid title with steady but unspectacular growth. Going free-to-play in October 2022 fundamentally changed its commercial trajectory — in one move, EA removed the single largest barrier to entry for a game whose real revenue comes entirely from expansions and packs. The 85 million figure is the result of that strategy playing out exactly as intended.

Going free-to-play in 2022 added 31 million players overnight

(Source: EA / Game World Observer, April 2023)

  • On October 18, 2022, EA made The Sims 4 base game permanently free to download on PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox.
  • Within six months, more than 16 million people had downloaded the game, with average weekly users increasing by 53%.
  • By April 2023, the game had crossed 70 million total players — a jump of approximately 31 million from the pre-F2P total of around 36–39 million.

The free-to-play decision was one of the more consequential moves in EA’s recent history. The Sims 4’s monetisation model — where the base game is free and players pay for expansion packs, game packs, and stuff packs individually — was already structured like a free-to-play game. Removing the base game price simply dropped the final barrier. The risk was cannibalising upsell revenue from existing players; the result was a 2× growth in the player base that more than offset it.

The Sims franchise sales

The Sims has sold over 200 million copies across all games

(Source: EA; Gamesindustry.biz)

  • The Sims franchise has sold over 200 million copies across all four mainline games and their platforms.
  • Per-game milestones: The Sims (~16M by 2005), The Sims 2 (1M in its first 10 days), The Sims 3 (10M by September 2011), The Sims 4 (36M+ before going free-to-play in 2022).
  • The franchise has released over 37 expansion, game, and stuff packs across The Sims 3 and Sims 4 alone — each generating additional revenue on top of base sales.

The Sims is among the best-selling PC game franchises ever made. Its 200 million total outpaces Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and Assassin’s Creed across comparable time periods. For a franchise that has never released a multiplayer competitive mode, never had an esports scene, and never pursued mobile as its primary platform, 200 million copies is a striking commercial result built entirely on a single creative loop: build a house, create a person, watch what happens.

The Sims 3 was the #1 best-selling PC title in North America and Europe in 2009

(Source: IGN; Gamereactor)

  • The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in its first week and 3.7 million copies in its launch year.
  • It reached 10 million lifetime sales by September 2011.
  • It was the #1 best-selling PC title in both North America and Europe for 2009, outselling online-focused competitors including Modern Warfare 2 on PC.

The Sims revenue

The Sims 4 surpassed $1 billion in revenue by 2019

(Source: EA CEO statement; PCGamesInsider)

  • EA’s CEO confirmed that The Sims 4 crossed $1 billion in revenue by 2019 — five years into its lifecycle and three years before going free-to-play.
  • The expansion and pack model means the franchise’s ongoing annual revenue is substantially higher than base game sales alone would suggest.
  • EA does not break out Sims-specific revenue in its quarterly filings. No current total franchise revenue figure has been officially disclosed beyond the $1B milestone.

The Sims 4’s trajectory from $1 billion in 2019 to 85 million free-to-play players in 2024 represents an unusual commercial story: the game became less of a premium product and more of a platform over time, with EA functioning like a live-service publisher generating recurring pack revenue from an increasingly large base. The franchise’s 25th anniversary in 2025 came with EA in the middle of a corporate sale worth nearly 55 times that $1 billion milestone.

EA’s $55 billion acquisition

EA was acquired for $55 billion in September 2025 — the largest deal in games media history

(Source: Gamesindustry.biz; Maxis; Kotaku)

  • In September 2025, Electronic Arts announced it would be acquired by a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake Capital, and Affinity Partners for $55 billion.
  • The deal takes EA private, removing it from public markets.
  • Maxis, the studio behind The Sims, confirmed in a statement that its “values have not changed” following the acquisition announcement.

The $55 billion figure dwarfs Microsoft’s $75 billion Activision Blizzard deal as the most significant ownership change in gaming recently. For The Sims community specifically, the acquisition raised immediate questions about creative direction and whether the franchise’s historically liberal approach to LGBTQ+ representation would be affected by PIF ownership. Maxis’s public response was measured but did not address those concerns directly.

Project Rene — the next Sims experience

EA’s next Sims game (Project Rene) is in development with no confirmed release date

(Source: EA; Variety, 2024)

  • EA has been developing Project Rene, described as the next experience in The Sims franchise, since at least 2022.
  • It is not formally called The Sims 5 — EA has positioned it as a new experience with optional multiplayer elements.
  • As of 2026, no release date has been confirmed.

Project Rene’s development has proceeded unusually quietly for a franchise of this scale. EA has released limited footage and details, and the commercial uncertainty created by the $55 billion acquisition has made the timeline harder to read. The Sims 4 continues to receive new content and players while Project Rene remains in pre-release limbo.

The Sims gameplay facts

Players have created over 1.6 billion Sims since 2000

(Source: EA 20th Anniversary; DualShockers, 2020)

  • Players have created over 1.6 billion Sims across all games since the franchise launched in 2000 — equivalent to approximately 20% of the current global population.
  • In The Sims 4 specifically, 68% of players create a Sim modelled on themselves.
  • Other Sims 4 facts released by EA: a typical week includes more than 3 million woohoos, 370,000 marriages, 120,000 deaths, and 16.6 million bathroom breaks.
  • Since 2000, players have created 6.9 million vampire characters, 1 million mermaids, and 217,000 alien characters.

The Sims historical milestones

  • 2000 — The Sims launches, becoming the best-selling PC game of 2000 and redefining life simulation.
  • 2004 — The Sims 2 sells 1 million copies in its first 10 days.
  • 2009 — The Sims 3 launches; #1 PC title in North America and Europe; 10M lifetime sales by 2011.
  • 2014 — The Sims 4 launches.
  • 2019 — The Sims 4 surpasses $1 billion in revenue; 36M+ players.
  • October 18, 2022 — The Sims 4 base game goes permanently free-to-play; 31 million new players added within months.
  • April 2023 — Sims 4 crosses 70 million players — the most widely played game in franchise history.
  • May 2024 — Sims 4 reaches 85 million players; 15 million new players added in 2024 alone.
  • September 2025 — EA acquired for $55 billion by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.

Sources

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