The Sims Sells 100 Million Units

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The Sims Sells 100 Million Units
In the land of games, Will Wright's interactive dollhouse reigns supreme.
By Mark Whiting, 04/16/2008

In the world of gaming there are smash hits and superstar successes... and then there's The Sims: a game so unbelievably popular, so cyclopean, that it defies all sane and rational attempts to classify it according to any conventionally understood game metric.

Let's be clear here. The Sims is so huge and influential that fully one fourth of EA's massive corporate structure is dedicated to its care and upkeep, placing the games corporate division separately alongside entities like EA Sports, EA Casual and... uh... everything else that EA makes. And why all the fuss, you might ask? Because, as of today, Will Wright's dollhouse brainchild has officially sold over 100 million copies -- putting its total units sold at a figure roughly 10 times that of contemporary PC behemoth World of Warcraft. The mind reels.

EA's Rod Humble was extremely chuffed to announce his company's historic milestone in a letter distributed today to Sims fans worldwide.

"This is an exciting time for the Sims," said Humble. "From teenage first kisses to stormy relationships, naming new babies to death by kitchen fire -- and even alien abductions, we've told a lot of stories together. [...] With the Sims we know that our players are truly unique. Players of the Sims see our games as a place to create characters, tell stories, explore relationships, live through generations design fashions and build homes and design their interiors."

Eat your heart out, Gears of War: Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Edition.

Over the years, The Sims has broken plenty of ground as a business paradigm along with its sales records -- proving once and for all that players' insatiable desire to dress pugs up in funny outfits can be fused with savvy product placement and corporate co-branding in order to produce bags of money seemingly out of thin air (example: a Ford Edge is available for download right now for your Sims off the company's website). With the release of the Sims 3 just around the corner, it's totally within reason to believe that that the Sims franchise could very well keep the merchandising streak, going on to sell 100 million more copies (and then some) at some point down the line.

To commemorate the big event, EA encourages you to head over to The Sims 2 official website right now to download a special "complimentary party skin" so that your your little peoples can celebrate the company's sweet, sweet fortune all night long.