The sims industries

The Sims FreePlay - Industries blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'The Sims FreePlay case study part 2 - Industries' and complete the following tasks.

Regulation – PEGI

Research the following using the PEGI website.

1) What is the VSC and how does it link to UK law?

The VSC Rating Board is an Administrator of the PEGI age rating system which is used in over 30 countries throughout Europe

2) Note down the key statistics on the homepage.

• OperatinG for 30 years
• Rated 1200+ games
• Rated 8000+ apps
• 1987 member outlets

3) What is the purpose of PEGI?

They supply detailed consumer information about the content of the games with PEGI ratings

4) Click on the PEGI Rating tab in the top menu. What are the age ratings and what do they include?

• 7- a little more violence (but must be unrealistic); contains some possibly frightening scenes or sounds
• 12- more graphic, sexual, and violent (however, not to realistic human characters)
• !- parent guidance recommended
• 16- more mature violence towards human characters
• 18- gross and horrific violence
• 
  

5) Scroll down to look at the ‘How games are examined’ infographic. What is the PEGI process for rating a game?

They look at the content and have the copy of the game which they see everything and see if there are any errors the game needs to chnage in order to get the license they have applied for the game.

The ‘Freemium’ gaming model

Read this Lifewire feature on freemium gaming and answer the following questions:

1) How does the freemium model work?

The typical freemium or free-to-play app is a free download that uses in-app purchases to produce revenue rather than charging a flat fee for the app. 

2) Why do some gamers believe freemium is ruining games?

It does not allow access to the whole game and therefore you cannot experience it fully.

3) What are the positives of the freemium model for gaming? 

it allows people to play the game for free. This is a huge benefit for the gamer's as if they are really intrigued to play the game, they are willing to pay money to experience the game fully.

Now read this Business Insider feature on freemium gaming and multiplayer games. Answer the following questions:

1) Note the key statistics in the first paragraph.

Freemium model games and their in-app purchases account for about 70-80% of the $10 billion or more in iOS revenue each year

2) Why does the freemium model incentivise game developers to create better and longer games?

This is  to ensure that people keep playing the game and spending money it which can help them make profit.

3) What does the article suggest regarding the possibilities and risks to the freemium model in future?

This si quite risky as some people might not like to spend money on games.

Read this New York Times feature on freemium gaming and answer the following questions:

1) Why did Temple Run use the freemium model?

This is because they had a wider audience and could charge people to be forward in the game.

2) The bigger gaming studios like Electronic Arts used to avoid the freemium model. Why are they now embracing it?

This is because they have seen the success of sims free play.

3) Why does Peter Farago suggest independent game makers benefit more from the freemium model than the major publishers like EA?

This is because they start from scratch and make money by this source.

Electronic Arts

Read this Pocket Gamer interview with EA’s Amanda Schofield, Senior Producer on The Sims FreePlay at EA's Melbourne-based Firemonkeys studio. Answer the following questions:

1) How has The Sims FreePlay evolved since launch?

Now, it’s this rich world which covers every aspect of the Sims’ lives. Pets range from puppies and kittens to dragons and fairies and the world is full of interesting places for Sims to go, mountains of fashion and near infinite ways to design and decorate homes.

2) Why does Amanda Schofield suggest ‘games aren’t products any more’?

She suggests that instead they are 'services'; functions like customer support and community management are a critical part of the game development process and must be embedded with our game teams so we not only know what our players are saying about the newest update, but we also can quickly respond to any problems that arise.

3) What does she say about The Sims gaming community?

She exclaims: ''our community is very active and always hungry to see more features and content in the game. We’ve not had to do much more than listen and build to keep the players engaged. When we find systems that are particularly exciting to our players, we focus our efforts to build that section out a little more."

4) How has EA kept the game fresh and maintained the active player base?

"There are so many more ways that each of our players have unique needs and requests when it comes to playing The Sims FreePlay, so it’s super important that we’re always finding ways to reach all of these individuals by varying the content and features we focus on."

5) How many times has the game been installed and how much game time in years have players spent playing the game? These could be great introductory statistics in an exam essay on this topic.

-well over 200 million installs of The Sims FreePlay to date 
-78,000=amount of game time in years players have spent in the game

Finally, read this blog on how EA is ruining the franchise (or not) due to its downloadable content. Answer the following questions:

1) What audience pleasures for The Sims are discussed at the beginning of the blog?

The ability to create your own characters and live your own life.

2) What examples of downloadable content are presented?

Expansion packs to built new homes and things to be rich like the captilist views.

3) How did Electronic Arts enrage The Sims online communities with expansion packs and DLC?

This allowed the game to stay longer and be up in the market.

4) What innovations have appeared in various versions of The Sims over the years?

The expansion pack introducing pets is always one of the most coveted entries. “The Sims 4: Cats and Dogs” followed suit and fit the mold to a T. It provided an in-depth system of creating pets while also containing a sizable amount of building content for houses and cosmetic items for Sims.

5) In your opinion, do expansion packs like these exploit a loyal audience or is it simply EA responding to customer demand?

I think that EA have been exploiting it to a certain extent as they do lock necessary content. However, in some cases, they are just giving what their customers want as people might grow to be bored of the game if it is just the same thing.