The Sims sold to private equity

[HyenaCat]

Adventure does not Await. The last EP (it was time for the last EP years ago) wasn’t because they are so dedicated to fixing the game. They sold it.

 

It wasn’t sold to some up and coming passionate studio, it was sold to Saudi Arabia and a family with ties to the Trump regime.

 

Private equity companies like to come in and buy franchises, then shut them down. 
 

Game over. Watch for updates and turn automatic updates off. 

[DuoMaxwell003]

Link to article for those that want to read it....

 

It is what it is. 

Eastern companies have been buying up gaming companies for years. Changes may or may not come. If the game is no longer making revenue for the parent company they will shut them down, that's just how business works. Why would anyone continue to dump money into something that is not making them money?

[Monson]

4 hours ago, HyenaCat said:

Adventure does not Await. The last EP (it was time for the last EP years ago) wasn’t because they are so dedicated to fixing the game. They sold it.

 

It wasn’t sold to some up and coming passionate studio, it was sold to Saudi Arabia and a family with ties to the Trump regime.

 

Private equity companies like to come in and buy franchises, then shut them down. 
 

Game over. Watch for updates and turn automatic updates off. 

Oh no not the orange man bad police again.... as someone state already if the product is not making money it will be shut down no matter who is running it or who they have ties too.... I mean we all at one point can be linked to kevin bacon... just a matter of how many steps.. same goes with trump biden harris.. and any other OMG BAD PEOPLE the crazies like hyenacat wants to warn you about.

[HyenaCat]

30 minutes ago, Monson said:

Oh no not the orange man bad police again.... as someone state already if the product is not making money it will be shut down no matter who is running it or who they have ties too.... I mean we all at one point can be linked to kevin bacon... just a matter of how many steps.. same goes with trump biden harris.. and any other OMG BAD PEOPLE the crazies like hyenacat wants to warn you about.

Ok. Sorry for being worried

[flybox]

The most likely outcome depends on the main goal of the investors. If this is a long-term investment meant to pay dividends over time, you'll see more of what you'd see in any large business: cost-cutting (layoffs, consolidation), and focus on squeezing income out of already profitable properties. If they are trying to make a ton of money fast and then sell the company, they will instead probably sell off properties which might be worth a lot on paper, but aren't making tons of profit right now.

 

FWIW, the reporting is that this is a leveraged buyout, so the investors will be looking to make money fast enough to cover the cost of the new debt. I wouldn't be surprised to see some EA intellectual property on the market over the next few years. Sims 5 might eventually be a Paradox release (wouldn't that be karma).

[Faolon]

I get the feeling they're mostly after mobile shite and the sports titles like Madden(which has mobile shite monetization).

 

Which means I think Flybox is right and the sims will probably be sold off. It requires too much investment to push forward. Why spend all that money making new expansions when you can just release the same football game over again and only change the year in the title? They'd still make a ton of money and would require fewer employees.

 

As for games like Mass Effect, I don't see how this company can do worse than the current employees probably would have crapped out. I still remember Andromeda and Dragon Age.

 

 

[MxBunnyMoon]

It's really not 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon,' when two major owners of EA will be Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. You might have heard of the guy, Mohammed bin Salman, likes to have journalists he doesn't like cut up with bone saws.

 

These people are glorified gangsters and terrorists, and they're buying western game companies in an effort to rehab their image overseas. The US considers them allies despite strong suspicions that they bankrolled the 9/11 hijackers, because we are dependent on their fossil fuel production, particularly our military.

 

Now, do I think erasing all diversity from The Sims is something they're burnt up to do? Not really. They're more likely to flood the game with AI slop and micro transactions than dedicating the time to erasing all LGBTQ+ material, risqué humor, and sexual mods from the game. But would they do all that if they could do it cheaply? Absolutely. And leveraged buyouts are infamous for making the buyers rich while destroying the company they purchased so I don't think the concern is unwarranted at all. 

Edited October 2, 2025 by MxBunnyMoon

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

On 9/29/2025 at 5:02 PM, Monson said:

Oh no not the orange man bad police again.... as someone state already if the product is not making money it will be shut down no matter who is running it or who they have ties too.... I mean we all at one point can be linked to kevin bacon... just a matter of how many steps.. same goes with trump biden harris.. and any other OMG BAD PEOPLE the crazies like hyenacat wants to warn you about.

If anything, they'll strip out a lot of woke crap. Which, I don't really see an issue with, since a lot of that stuff borders on insanity, anyway.

 

No, I would be more worried about them taking offense to specific kinds of mods, adult mods in particular. Either that, or trying to spy on gamers to see who has what kind of fetish, for legal reasons. in some countries, there are some kinds of art or media that can get you in trouble with the law, and I don't know how extensive things are going to get these days. You know, never mind the fact that, although disturbing sometimes, these mods do not involve real people, no, it's more of a case of "well, this offends my moral sensibilities, and I have the legal authority to do something about that, so I'm going to make it illegal", and that can go in all sorts of directions. To be honest though I think the Sims won't change that much, if at all.

 

EDIT: We may notice more aggressive monetization of content though, since now EA has a debt to pay off...

Edited October 3, 2025 by Z0mBieP00Nani

[BadxKarma]

On 9/29/2025 at 12:22 PM, HyenaCat said:

Adventure does not Await. The last EP (it was time for the last EP years ago) wasn’t because they are so dedicated to fixing the game. They sold it.

 

It wasn’t sold to some up and coming passionate studio, it was sold to Saudi Arabia and a family with ties to the Trump regime.

 

Private equity companies like to come in and buy franchises, then shut them down. 
 

Game over. Watch for updates and turn automatic updates off. 

You're overreacting and jumping to conclusions. It's a wait and see situation. Which is all you can do for now and see what happens.

[SticksStackStuck]

Sims 4 is just as part of EA, and a small part at that. Bin Salman is probably more interested in EA Sports, to "sportwash" his noxious regime. I don't think they'll bother much with Sims other than trying to squeeze some money out of it. The game is not legal in Saudi Arabia anyway.

[Monson]

16 hours ago, Z0mBieP00Nani said:

If anything, they'll strip out a lot of woke crap. Which, I don't really see an issue with, since a lot of that stuff borders on insanity, anyway.

 

No, I would be more worried about them taking offense to specific kinds of mods, adult mods in particular. Either that, or trying to spy on gamers to see who has what kind of fetish, for legal reasons. in some countries, there are some kinds of art or media that can get you in trouble with the law, and I don't know how extensive things are going to get these days. You know, never mind the fact that, although disturbing sometimes, these mods do not involve real people, no, it's more of a case of "well, this offends my moral sensibilities, and I have the legal authority to do something about that, so I'm going to make it illegal", and that can go in all sorts of directions. To be honest though I think the Sims won't change that much, if at all.

 

EDIT: We may notice more aggressive monetization of content though, since now EA has a debt to pay off...

Sure they can take offense to adult mods but until they figure out how to make sims online play only you can always just disconnect from the web and then play the game... it really is that simple. I'm not too worried about them taking offense tho because in the grand scheme of the world... sex has always sold...so unless they are some super religious cult company then they really wont care what some one does on their own PC in their own home. so long as it does not involve real world violence.

 

my point was mainly about certain doomsayers coming on here claiming that the sky is falling like chicken little would when it is too soon to know anything yet.

 

So now you accusing trumps son in law to crimes.... good to know chicken little number 2....you crazies just can not help yourselves can you? Google paranoid symptoms.... see if any of those ring true mkay?

Edited October 4, 2025 by Monson

[flybox]

Guys, if the new owners have a fundamental problem with TS4, they aren't going to gut it. First, as some have pointed out, these foreign regimes are buying certain companies to help their image problem. Going all Spanish Inquisition on their new property doesn't help accomplish that. Second, the owners took out billions in debt to finance this purchase. If part of their purchase is so distasteful to them they don't want to keep, they would never destroy it, and throw all that value down the drain. They'd sell it to the highest bidder to help manage all that new debt.

[Faolon]

Spoiler

 

 

 

One thing I hadn't considered is just how bad the monetization of EA's games might get. So they wont delete the sims, they'll just nickel and dime harder.

Edited October 4, 2025 by Faolon

[flybox]

18 minutes ago, Faolon said:

  Hide contents

 

 

 

One thing I hadn't considered is just how bad the monetization of EA's games might get. So they wont delete the sims, they'll just nickel and dime harder.

Hard to nickel and dime a literal nickel and dime factory, but I'm sure they'll find a way.

[BearyBry]

On 10/3/2025 at 12:17 PM, Z0mBieP00Nani said:

If anything, they'll strip out a lot of woke crap. Which, I don't really see an issue with, since a lot of that stuff borders on insanity, anyway.

The "woke crap" like human rights, being illegal to be LGBT+, banning sex before marriage, and restricting what women can do?

 

Yeah, I can't see how anything like that would impact a game like the Sims, there's no connection there at all 🙄

[Faolon]

4 hours ago, BearyBry said:

The "woke crap" like human rights, being illegal to be LGBT+, banning sex before marriage, and restricting what women can do?

 

Yeah, I can't see how anything like that would impact a game like the Sims, there's no connection there at all 🙄

 

 

"Woke" refers to performative virtue signaling. Like adding chest bindings and other crap that would never be seen or serve any purpose other than to show off how "progressive" some company is.

 

Let's face it, people like you don't actually support any of the things you claim you do. You do not support human rights because you celebrate violence against anyone who so much as disagrees with one of your opinions. You fight to remove people's rights simply to make yourself feel better. You only support LGBT people who agree with your opinions. If any of them even remotely disagree with you, you want them to be harmed.

You don't want women to have freedoms, either. Because the second one of them uses those freedoms to express an opinion or viewpoint you don't agree with, suddenly that woman has to deal with rape and death threats from your side. Just look at what JK Rowling has had to deal with for YEARS simply for point out that biological woman actually exist.

 

And nobody is trying to ban sex before marriage. That's just something you pulled out of your ass because you wanted to add something more and couldn't figure out what that was.

[Z0mBieP00Nani]

On 10/5/2025 at 7:02 PM, Faolon said:

 

 

"Woke" refers to performative virtue signaling. Like adding chest bindings and other crap that would never be seen or serve any purpose other than to show off how "progressive" some company is.

 

Let's face it, people like you don't actually support any of the things you claim you do. You do not support human rights because you celebrate violence against anyone who so much as disagrees with one of your opinions. You fight to remove people's rights simply to make yourself feel better. You only support LGBT people who agree with your opinions. If any of them even remotely disagree with you, you want them to be harmed.

You don't want women to have freedoms, either. Because the second one of them uses those freedoms to express an opinion or viewpoint you don't agree with, suddenly that woman has to deal with rape and death threats from your side. Just look at what JK Rowling has had to deal with for YEARS simply for point out that biological woman actually exist.

 

And nobody is trying to ban sex before marriage. That's just something you pulled out of your ass because you wanted to add something more and couldn't figure out what that was.

 

Normally I would agree completely, I'm more annoyed with the way pregnancy works in the Sims, for example, two Sims have a kid, and they're basically white, but the child comes out dark skinned, which doesn't make sense from a realistic standpoint, sure, that happens SOMETIMES, but it's not a normal thing to occur, but for a while, it seemed to happen almost all the time, even now if you have a mixed child, and one donor has lighter skin then resulting tone is often dark, when it is more likely to be a shade in between in real life, for some reason, blonde hair also seems to be a dominant trait over darker colors, which also makes no sense, and don't get me started on eye color, it's like they just threw the biology textbook out the window when they made that system for TS4, presumably for the sake of progressivism, as one YouTube comment said "the Sims 4 went with the hentai approach with the pregnancy system". The pronouns and that kind of stuff I find kind of annoying, but I can at least avoid that pretty easily, so I'm not bothered by it too much.

 

The Sims is a somewhat fantasy setting, so I'm willing to let more slide with that as far as "woke" in games is concerned.

 

There's other stuff too, but I'm at work on the toilet, so I'll just leave it there.

[BearyBry]

On 10/6/2025 at 12:02 AM, Faolon said:

"Woke" refers to performative virtue signaling. Like adding chest bindings and other crap that would never be seen or serve any purpose other than to show off how "progressive" some company is.

 

Let's face it, people like you don't actually support any of the things you claim you do. You do not support human rights because you celebrate violence against anyone who so much as disagrees with one of your opinions. You fight to remove people's rights simply to make yourself feel better. You only support LGBT people who agree with your opinions. If any of them even remotely disagree with you, you want them to be harmed.

You don't want women to have freedoms, either. Because the second one of them uses those freedoms to express an opinion or viewpoint you don't agree with, suddenly that woman has to deal with rape and death threats from your side. Just look at what JK Rowling has had to deal with for YEARS simply for point out that biological woman actually exist.

 

And nobody is trying to ban sex before marriage. That's just something you pulled out of your ass because you wanted to add something more and couldn't figure out what that was.

If you don't want to have a Sim who is transition then don't have one that needs chest bindings, the option is there for people who want to see themselves or people they know represented in a world they create, one where trans-hatred doesn't exist.  No one is forcing you to play with features like these, they're there to offer choice to players.  Yes most companies will do it to tick a box, but so what, the decision was made and the option was provided, if you don't like it then stop supporting companies that go against your values (or download the anti-DEI mod).

 

I do support the things I "claim" to.  I believe in human rights and treating people with respect and dignity, violence is never the answer when faced with a disagreement over opinions, communication is key.  Adults should discuss things, understand the different points and be open to considering others opinions, believing your side to be the only one is what leads to violence, hatred, discrimination and misery for people who are different (admittedly, I wouldn't apply this to the far right, as they are closed off to anything but their own rhetoric and would never consider anything other than the propaganda they are fed, so trying to speak freely and openly with them would be a waste of breath).  I'm a feminist, I believe in equal rights for everyone, regardless of gender, sex, race, religion, etc.  By offering a greater range of voice in games, especially life simulators (though any game with a character creator option would also apply), then developers and companies are allowing people to play with a wider range of different options, once again these are not defaults that can't be removed, if you don't want them then don't play with them.  As for being against the LGBT+, I am one of them and whilst I might not know or understand all the letters of the Alphabet Mafia they're all together because they're marginalised groups who face discrimination, or have to put up with stereotypes that paint people into one sort of box and anything different from that is seen as a threat.

 

As I said before, I'm a feminist so I believe fiercely in equal and fair treatment of women, men, nonbinary, etc, however someone chooses to identify.  Women have so often been overlooked and underestimated through history despite some of the great things they've contributed over the centuries, so now that they are gaining more and more equal treatement is only a good thing, so that they can help reform the world into something that works for the majority.  The small scared little incels who send women threats against their life and person disgust me, it shows how much work still has to be done and how those who have historically always held the power feel threatened at the smallest thing that would challenge it.  JK is entitled to her opinion, but it's her opinion, that doesn't mean it applies to everyone and won't erase trans women from existence, and just because I disagree with her doesn't mean I wish violence upon her I'll just simply not buy anything with her name on it, and use the power I have as a consumer to put it towards an artist that shares similar values to mine.

 

As for sex before marriage, in Saudi Arabia (the Public Investment Fund of which is one of those involved in buying EA, just in case you were unaware) where Sharia law is the basis of the legal system, sex outside of marriage is a criminal offense.  Depending on how involved they'll be in games like The Sims 4 options for woo-hoo might end up being removed for Sims who aren't married straight couples, whilst all the other things you're so offended by would likely disappear as well, so you'll get the game you want but lots of players will be let down by.

 

And finally, please don't come for random strangers on forums and think you know a damn thing about their politics, beliefs or lifestyle, all these gross generalisations about me and "my side" really say more about you than anything else and the dogma you seem to have bought into.  If you're so offended by the option of choice in gaming these days, then you might want to wean yourself off of this hobby, that or realise the option of choice isn't going to hurt you, move on and try to calm down, all that pent up rage can't be good for your blood preassure--hypertension is a silent killer, so best to see a doctor about it and make sure.

[Faolon]

47 minutes ago, BearyBry said:

And finally, please don't come for random strangers on forums and think you know a damn thing about their politics, beliefs or lifestyle, all these gross generalisations about me and "my side" really say more about you than anything else and the dogma you seem to have bought into.  If you're so offended by the option of choice in gaming these days, then you might want to wean yourself off of this hobby, that or realise the option of choice isn't going to hurt you, move on and try to calm down, all that pent up rage can't be good for your blood preassure--hypertension is a silent killer, so best to see a doctor about it and make sure.

 

 

I don't need to know you personally. All I need is what you've already told me.

You're call yourself a feminist. You claim that women were "overlooked and underestimated". I'm sorry to inform you, but that's how being a human being works. It's happened to both genders. It's always been that way. Women are not the alpha victim that can claim ownership of specific injustices because they've happened to everyone. But you don't care that it happens to men. THAT is why you call yourself a feminist. Not because you care about all people, but because you view women as more important than others. Their suffering matters more than the suffering of anyone else.

 

Your beliefs are no different than those of religious zealots. You believe what you believe because it feels good to believe it, not because you've bothered trying to understand anything. You've never bothered looking into how life was for people in the past, because only women mattered to you. I know this because you call yourself a feminist. Just like all Christians and Muslims believe in their one god, feminists believe women are the alpha victim. The one true victim that gets victimized above all other victims. You don't care that men suffer despite your claim that you do. In fact, you probably find it annoying when men talk about it. When you hear or see the phrase "male loneliness epidemic", how do you react? Be honest. Do you roll your eyes? Do you get exasperated that such privileged people complain? Does it make you laugh?

 

There are a lot of assumptions I can make with almost absolute certainty simply based on the labels you used yourself. You probably view MRAs as toxic and evil. You probably consider JK Rowling a horrible person. You probably think trans people's rights are being eroded as we speak. And you believe all of this not because you've done any research, but because these beliefs tickle specific parts of your brain. Could I be wrong? Of course, anything is possible. But the chances of me being wrong in this situation are almost zero.

 

1 hour ago, BearyBry said:

If you don't want to have a Sim who is transition then don't have one that needs chest bindings, the option is there for people who want to see themselves or people they know represented in a world they create, one where trans-hatred doesn't exist.  No one is forcing you to play with features like these, they're there to offer choice to players.  Yes most companies will do it to tick a box, but so what, the decision was made and the option was provided, if you don't like it then stop supporting companies that go against your values (or download the anti-DEI mod).

 

The chest bindings are as pointless as rainbow colored fillings for cavities in this game. Sims aren't wandering around in their underwear all the time. So adding something like that to the game serves ZERO purpose. Just because I do not need to use them, does not stop their inclusion from being "woke". Adding it serves zero purpose, it doesn't really add anything of value and is done as a performance.

 

1 hour ago, BearyBry said:

II do support the things I "claim" to.  I believe in human rights and treating people with respect and dignity, violence is never the answer when faced with a disagreement over opinions, communication is key.  Adults should discuss things, understand the different points and be open to considering others opinions, believing your side to be the only one is what leads to violence, hatred, discrimination and misery for people who are different (admittedly, I wouldn't apply this to the far right, as they are closed off to anything but their own rhetoric and would never consider anything other than the propaganda they are fed, so trying to speak freely and openly with them would be a waste of breath).  I'm a feminist, I believe in equal rights for everyone, regardless of gender, sex, race, religion, etc.  By offering a greater range of voice in games, especially life simulators (though any game with a character creator option would also apply), then developers and companies are allowing people to play with a wider range of different options, once again these are not defaults that can't be removed, if you don't want them then don't play with them.  As for being against the LGBT+, I am one of them and whilst I might not know or understand all the letters of the Alphabet Mafia they're all together because they're marginalised groups who face discrimination, or have to put up with stereotypes that paint people into one sort of box and anything different from that is seen as a threat.

 

Simply for expressing the viewpoints I've already expressed, I'd be called a fascist among other things. I've not expressed any hatred of anyone. I've not expressed any desire to harm anyone or wished harm on anyone. Simply by expressing what I have, many on the left believe I should die a horrible death. This isn't me imagining things. These people are fully open about their desires. They express them constantly on social media. The recent assassination had countless people making videos of themselves celebrating the death. Insulting the victim's wife and children and hoping their deaths follow soon. People were openly making lists of people they wanted to be next. They openly call for violence against anyone who disagrees with them. Left wingers on television spread lies about the death and the left never condemned the lies. Pundits on CNN and other media outlets were desperately trying to frame this as the fault of the current US President.

 

How is one supposed to discuss anything with these people? You can't talk to a person who views you as a fascist simply because you don't agree with something. You can't have a conversation with a group of people who celebrate the death of a person who wanted nothing more than to hold those discussions.

 

I did not claim that you were against LGBT people. I said that you only support those who express opinions that fit your own world view. Marginalized groups have no power. And yet the alphabet mafia can destroy people's lives with simply a tweet. They can ruin companies. You cannot call yourself marginalized while having the power to ruin the lives of every day people. You can't have the power to ruin billion dollar companies and still call yourself oppressed. Well, I mean you can, but it doesn't work for everyone else.

 

As for "offering a greater range of voice in games". How much is too much? Is there a limit? Is having every single game pushing your voice not enough? Do you really have to demand more? Do I really need to be lectured by a badly written Qunari in Dragon Age? Do I really need to sit through cringe dialogue and open hated of men? I imagine you'll claim I can just avoid it, but I can't when it's in EVERY SINGLE GAME.

 

Imagine if every game had a MAGA hat in it. At first, you'd probably just ignore it, but 30 games like you're going to get a little annoyed and start asking why it needs to be there when it serves no purpose. (Although, most people on your side would probably show a shitfit the second they saw it and start screaming on social media about fascists in gaming.)

 

 

1 hour ago, BearyBry said:

As for sex before marriage, in Saudi Arabia (the Public Investment Fund of which is one of those involved in buying EA, just in case you were unaware) where Sharia law is the basis of the legal system, sex outside of marriage is a criminal offense.  Depending on how involved they'll be in games like The Sims 4 options for woo-hoo might end up being removed for Sims who aren't married straight couples, whilst all the other things you're so offended by would likely disappear as well, so you'll get the game you want but lots of players will be let down by.

 

I can see them banning certain things in their own country. But it wont have any effect on the rest of the world. They already view all of us as degenerate and worthless. They'll have no issue pushing ideals they view as corrupting on the rest of us.

Much the way China has a strangle hold on Tik-Tok in their own nation, but have no issue letting it harm children in every other country. The stuff you see on Tik-Tok, those dancing girls and what-not, are simply not allowed in China. They don't give a shit about the rest of the world.

[DoctaSax]

Enough with the political fingerpointing please.

[BearyBry]

6 hours ago, DoctaSax said:

Enough with the political fingerpointing please.

My apologies.  I'll not waste my breath responding any further.