During its segment during the EA Play Live event, Maxis Studios announced that The Sims's community would be expanding to a new platform. The series' general manager Lyndsay Pearson announced that The Sims 4 is available on Steam now. After unveiling a trailer for this Steam release, representatives from Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts took the stage to talk about five other games that are also coming to Steam today, including Titanfall 2 and Dead Space 3.Â
To celebrate the talent and diversity within The Sims' community, the series' general manager Lyndsay Pearson kicked off The Sims 4's portion of EA Play Live with a video that interviewed a group of players from a variety of backgrounds about the impact the series had on them, and about why they love the game.
While Pearson promised "plenty" of new announcements as the summer went on, she concluded her segment with the announcement that The Sims 4 was coming to Steam today. The trailer itself promised that "every... world [and] adventure" and features like pets and building tools would be coming to the Steam version of the game.
Afterward, Respawn Entertainment's social media manager and EA's Community Manager revealed that five more EA games are available now. According to the announcement, Titanfall 2, Dead Space 3, A Way Out, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Payback are also playable on Steam now. The EA representatives also teased that with the EA Access program's launch this fall, subscribers will be able to access more games on Steam, including upcoming releases, like Command and Conquer Remastered, which currently has full mod support on Steam.
Reactions to Maxis' announcement appear to be somewhat mixed. Although commenters stated that they were glad to see The Sims 4 come to Steam with all of its expansions and full support for mods, others were disappointed that the life simulation game hadn't been released on the platform sooner. While several other fans said they were excited about the other five games coming to Steam, more cynical reactions criticized the decision as a money grab.
However, Electronic Arts' move to release games on Steam may be part of a larger move to support other platforms. Recently, the developer announced cross-play for games like Apex Legends and Need for Speed: Heat. Although this program is still a work-in-progress for now, hopefully its offerings will improve as more titles are announced.
The Sims 4Â is available now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
