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Paralives Just Dropped and We Have Thoughts · The Plumbob Report

• 0:12
  [Becca Hartwell] Welcome back to the Plumbob Report.
• 0:13
  [Becca Hartwell] I'm here with Danny Reyes and oh my gosh, this week is a lot.
• 0:18
  [Danny Reyes] Laughing,
• 0:19
  [Danny Reyes] Becca Hartwell,
• 0:20
  [Danny Reyes] that is the understatement of the century.
• 0:22
  [Danny Reyes] Like, where do we even start?
• 0:24
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 0:25
  [Becca Hartwell] so here's the thing.
• 0:26
  [Becca Hartwell] Paralives just launched on Steam Early Access and the numbers are wild.
• 0:30
  [Danny Reyes] Wow.
• 0:31
  [Becca Hartwell] We're talking 250K copies in eight hours and 78K players online at once.
• 0:38
  [Becca Hartwell] It's
• 0:38
  [Danny Reyes] With surprise. Wait,
• 0:39
  [Danny Reyes] really?
• 0:40
  [Danny Reyes] That's not indie numbers.
• 0:41
  [Danny Reyes] That's like actual blockbuster territory.
• 0:43
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 0:44
  [Becca Hartwell] So we are going all in on that.
• 0:47
  [Becca Hartwell] The launch reaction,
• 0:48
  [Becca Hartwell] what it means for the life sim genre,
• 0:50
  [Becca Hartwell] all of it.
• 0:51
  [Danny Reyes] And then we go hands-on with the actual features,
• 0:53
  [Danny Reyes] parameter sliders,
• 0:55
  [Danny Reyes] build mode tools,
• 0:56
  [Danny Reyes] the career system.
• 0:57
  [Danny Reyes] Honestly,
• 0:58
  [Danny Reyes] I have thoughts.
• 0:59
  [Becca Hartwell] Chuckling,
• 1:00
  [Becca Hartwell] you always have thoughts.
• 1:02
  [Danny Reyes] I do.
• 1:03
  [Danny Reyes] Speaking of which...
• 1:04
  [Danny Reyes] We are also covering Sims 4 Patch 2.34,
• 1:08
  [Danny Reyes] which dropped May 21st.
• 1:10
  [Becca Hartwell] With a sigh,
• 1:11
  [Becca Hartwell] the CAS fixes,
• 1:12
  [Becca Hartwell] the Gallery stuff,
• 1:14
  [Becca Hartwell] and a Producer interview about future Quality of Life updates that is either very reassuring or very not, depending on your mood.
• 1:22
  [Danny Reyes] Plus, two community mods doing the things EA just hasn't.
• 1:26
  [Becca Hartwell] You know what I mean?
• 1:27
  [Becca Hartwell] And then to close it out, we've got some big industry news.
• 1:31
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims Medieval got quietly pulled from sale after 15 years.
• 1:35
  [Danny Reyes] No warning,
• 1:36
  [Danny Reyes] just gone.
• 1:37
  [Becca Hartwell] And alleged Project Rene screenshots showing open world neighborhoods,
• 1:42
  [Becca Hartwell] so the community is fully in speculation mode right now.
• 1:45
  [Danny Reyes] With energy.
• 1:46
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 1:46
  [Danny Reyes] I am ready.
• 1:47
  [Danny Reyes] Let's get into it.
• 1:49
  [Becca Hartwell] Let's go!
• 1:50
  [Becca Hartwell] Paralives just changed the game, so we're starting there.
• 1:59
  [Becca Hartwell] We want to hear from you. Submit questions via the web form in the description or give us a call at 747-677-1037 and leave your question.
• 2:08
  [Becca Hartwell] Don't be shy.
• 2:09
  [Becca Hartwell] Our AI assistant makes it super easy.
• 2:17
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay, so 250K copies,
• 2:21
  [Becca Hartwell] eight hours.
• 2:23
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait,
• 2:24
  [Becca Hartwell] eight hours?
• 2:25
  [Danny Reyes] Eight hours,
• 2:26
  [Danny Reyes] Becca Hartwell.
• 2:27
  [Danny Reyes] Sims Community reported it yesterday.
• 2:30
  [Danny Reyes] Paralives hit Steam Early Access and just...
• 2:33
  [Danny Reyes] went.
• 2:34
  [Becca Hartwell] That's wild,
• 2:35
  [Becca Hartwell] right?
• 2:35
  [Becca Hartwell] Like, we knew the hype was there,
• 2:37
  [Becca Hartwell] but that's a real number.
• 2:39
  [Danny Reyes] And it topped global sales the same day,
• 2:42
  [Danny Reyes] 78,000 simultaneous players at launch, according to William Chan over at Tech Times.
• 2:48
  [Becca Hartwell] To put that in context,
• 2:51
  [Becca Hartwell] that's not a small indie quietly dropping on a Tuesday.
• 2:54
  [Becca Hartwell] That's a statement.
• 2:55
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 2:56
  [Danny Reyes] And the reviews landed very positive on Steam.
• 2:59
  [Danny Reyes] game,
• 2:59
  [Becca Hartwell] Wow.
• 3:00
  [Danny Reyes] which for Early Access is not a given.
• 3:02
  [Becca Hartwell] No,
• 3:03
  [Becca Hartwell] absolutely not.
• 3:04
  [Becca Hartwell] Early Access can go sideways fast.
• 3:07
  [Becca Hartwell] I've seen some launches that made my Sims 3 legacy save situation look organized.
• 3:13
  [Danny Reyes] Okay, so the number is unhinged, but here's the thing.
• 3:18
  [Danny Reyes] What's actually driving it?
• 3:20
  [Danny Reyes] Because hype gets you day one. It doesn't get you very positive reviews.
• 3:24
  [Becca Hartwell] Right,
• 3:25
  [Becca Hartwell] right.
• 3:26
  [Becca Hartwell] And GamesRadar was covering this today,
• 3:28
  [Becca Hartwell] Anna Koselkes piece,
• 3:29
  [Becca Hartwell] and players are out there saying they'll probably never go back to Sims 4,
• 3:34
  [Becca Hartwell] which, I mean, come on,
• 3:36
  [Becca Hartwell] that's a big claim.
• 3:37
  [Danny Reyes] I mean, I'm on both sides a little bit.
• 3:40
  [Danny Reyes] Like, I get the frustration with Sims 4.
• 3:42
  [Danny Reyes] My Sims autonomously mop floors during fires.
• 3:46
  [Danny Reyes] That's not a bit. That's just Tuesday.
• 3:48
  [Becca Hartwell] It really is just Tuesday.
• 3:51
  [Danny Reyes] But the community has been hungry for a real competitor for years.
• 3:54
  [Danny Reyes] for years and Paralives has been in development since like forever.
• 3:58
  [Danny Reyes] People have been waiting.
• 4:00
  [Becca Hartwell] And what's interesting is the creator pipeline showed up immediately.
• 4:04
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims community covered launch day CC and Paramaker content already going live on day one.
• 4:11
  [Danny Reyes] Day one CC?
• 4:13
  [Danny Reyes] That's honestly kind of a flex.
• 4:14
  [Becca Hartwell] It really is because a game can have great bones,
• 4:18
  [Becca Hartwell] but if the community doesn't pick it up.
• 4:20
  [Becca Hartwell] It fades.
• 4:21
  [Becca Hartwell] The fact that creators were already in Paramaker on day one,
• 4:26
  [Becca Hartwell] that tells you something.
• 4:27
  [Danny Reyes] Yeah,
• 4:28
  [Danny Reyes] and speaking of Paramaker,
• 4:30
  [Danny Reyes] like, that's the character creator for anyone who hasn't followed Paralives closely,
• 4:34
  [Danny Reyes] people are losing it over the customization options.
• 4:38
  [Becca Hartwell] Rich, you know, as someone who spends way too long in Create-a-Sim,
• 4:42
  [Becca Hartwell] I feel that on a personal level.
• 4:44
  [Danny Reyes] Oh, same.
• 4:45
  [Danny Reyes] I've spent 40 minutes on cheekbone placement before.
• 4:48
  [Danny Reyes] Or
• 4:48
  [Becca Hartwell] 40 minutes is conservative.
• 4:51
  [Danny Reyes] Totally. So the hype has some real substance behind it. But, and I do want to be honest here,
• 4:56
  [Danny Reyes] it's early access.
• 4:58
  [Becca Hartwell] Yeah,
• 4:59
  [Becca Hartwell] there's that.
• 4:59
  [Danny Reyes] William Chan's piece actually noted that The Gamer and PC Gamer had mixed warnings from critics.
• 5:06
  [Danny Reyes] Like they're not saying it's bad,
• 5:08
  [Danny Reyes] but they're saying it's not done.
• 5:10
  [Becca Hartwell] Right,
• 5:11
  [Becca Hartwell] which is, you know, accurate.
• 5:13
  [Becca Hartwell] Early Access means you're buying into what it's becoming,
• 5:16
  [Becca Hartwell] not-
• 5:16
  [Becca Hartwell] Not what it fully is yet.
• 5:17
  [Danny Reyes] And the developers put out a post-release roadmap.
• 5:21
  [Danny Reyes] Sims Community covered it on Friday.
• 5:23
  [Danny Reyes] June through September is a really focused push.
• 5:26
  [Danny Reyes] Lots of bug fixes and feature building.
• 5:28
  [Becca Hartwell] That's actually reassuring.
• 5:30
  [Becca Hartwell] A clear roadmap with specific windows is way better than vague we're working on it energy.
• 5:37
  [Danny Reyes] No kidding.
• 5:38
  [Danny Reyes] Motherlode can't fix a missing roadmap,
• 5:40
  [Danny Reyes] you know what I mean?
• 5:42
  [Becca Hartwell] That is very true.
• 5:44
  [Danny Reyes] 250,000 in eight hours and a launch discount still pulling people in?
• 5:49
  [Danny Reyes] The momentum is real.
• 5:51
  [Becca Hartwell] And here's the thing about that never going back to Sims 4 take.
• 5:55
  [Becca Hartwell] I don't think it means Sims 4 is dead.
• 5:57
  [Becca Hartwell] I think it means players finally have options and options change how you relate to something you've been stuck with.
• 6:04
  [Danny Reyes] That's actually a really good way to put it.
• 6:06
  [Danny Reyes] Competition does something to a space that nothing else can.
• 6:10
  [Becca Hartwell] Right? Like,
• 6:11
  [Becca Hartwell] EA has had basically no real competition in the life sim lane for years.
• 6:16
  [Becca Hartwell] And now there's a game clearing a quarter million units before dinner.
• 6:21
  [Danny Reyes] Before dinner. That's the timeline.
• 6:24
  [Becca Hartwell] So,
• 6:24
  [Becca Hartwell] okay,
• 6:25
  [Becca Hartwell] the number is real,
• 6:26
  [Becca Hartwell] the community showed up, and the reviews are positive.
• 6:29
  [Becca Hartwell] But everyone's asking the same question now.
• 6:32
  [Danny Reyes] Which is?
• 6:33
  [Becca Hartwell] What is Paralives actually doing that has people this fired up?
• 6:37
  [Becca Hartwell] up like what's under the hood that makes it feel different?
• 6:40
  [Danny Reyes] And I think that's exactly the conversation we need to have,
• 6:44
  [Danny Reyes] because the sales number is exciting,
• 6:46
  [Danny Reyes] but the features are where this gets really interesting.
• 6:55
  [Becca Hartwell] So now that the hype is real,
• 6:56
  [Becca Hartwell] let's actually talk about what you're getting when you boot it up.
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] Right, okay,
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] so Paramaker first,
• 7:02
  [Becca Hartwell] because I think that's where people's jaws are hitting the floor.
• 7:05
  [Danny Reyes] The character creator?
• 7:06
  [Becca Hartwell] Yeah, like Sims Community put out a full guide this week on the sliders alone,
• 7:11
  [Becca Hartwell] and I'm reading it going,
• 7:12
  [Becca Hartwell] this is just built in?
• 7:14
  [Becca Hartwell] No mods required?
• 7:16
  [Danny Reyes] That's the thing. You know how in Sims 4 we've had slider mods and body proportion overhauls basically forever because the base game just doesn't cut it.
• 7:25
  [Becca Hartwell] For years,
• 7:27
  [Becca Hartwell] years!
• 7:27
  [Danny Reyes] And Paralives ships with that stuff on day one,
• 7:31
  [Danny Reyes] face shape,
• 7:31
  [Danny Reyes] body proportions,
• 7:32
  [Danny Reyes] the whole thing,
• 7:33
  [Danny Reyes] fully adjustable.
• 7:35
  [Becca Hartwell] It's not just sliders either,
• 7:36
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims Community also covered the identity and personality options in Paramaker,
• 7:41
  [Becca Hartwell] and there's real depth there.
• 7:42
  [Becca Hartwell] You're not just picking traits from a list.
• 7:45
  [Danny Reyes] Does it feel overwhelming though,
• 7:47
  [Danny Reyes] like is it too much?
• 7:48
  [Becca Hartwell] Honestly,
• 7:49
  [Becca Hartwell] probably for some people,
• 7:51
  [Becca Hartwell] yeah.
• 7:51
  [Becca Hartwell] But as someone who has spent way too long in Create-a-Sim installing
• 7:54
  [Speaker 3] mods in Sims, I have no problem with the amount of customization.
• 7:54
  [Becca Hartwell] Installing mods to get exactly one eyebrow shape right.
• 7:57
  [Becca Hartwell] I'm not complaining.
• 7:59
  [Danny Reyes] Fair.
• 8:00
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 8:01
  [Danny Reyes] build mode,
• 8:02
  [Danny Reyes] because this is where I personally started having a moment.
• 8:05
  [Becca Hartwell] Oh,
• 8:05
  [Becca Hartwell] build mode is where it gets wild.
• 8:08
  [Becca Hartwell] GamesRadar had a piece today.
• 8:10
  [Becca Hartwell] Miri Teixeira wrote it, basically titled,
• 8:12
  [Becca Hartwell] I Might Not Have to Mod The Sims Anymore.
• 8:15
  [Becca Hartwell] And as a gallery creator,
• 8:17
  [Becca Hartwell] I read that headline and felt something.
• 8:19
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 8:20
  [Danny Reyes] so here's what she's talking about.
• 8:22
  [Danny Reyes] Object resizing.
• 8:23
  [Danny Reyes] Like,
• 8:24
  [Danny Reyes] you can grab furniture and resize it freely,
• 8:26
  [Danny Reyes] not snap to grid nonsense-actually resize it.
• 8:30
  [Becca Hartwell] Which Sims 4 players have had to mod in.
• 8:33
  [Danny Reyes] Yep.
• 8:33
  [Becca Hartwell] Custom styles on objects,
• 8:35
  [Becca Hartwell] too,
• 8:35
  [Becca Hartwell] according to the Sims Community Object Customization guide that dropped Friday-you can apply different color schemes and patterns to individual pieces.
• 8:44
  [Danny Reyes] Wait,
• 8:44
  [Danny Reyes] so it's not just a recolor system?
• 8:47
  [Becca Hartwell] It's more flexible than that.
• 8:48
  [Becca Hartwell] The article calls them custom styles and describes being able to
• 8:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Being able to mix and match in ways the base Sims 4 engine just doesn't support natively.
• 8:57
  [Danny Reyes] Im not even mad.
• 8:59
  [Danny Reyes] Im just tired.
• 9:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Same.
• 9:02
  [Becca Hartwell] Like, Ive accepted modding as part of my routine,
• 9:04
  [Becca Hartwell] but theres something about seeing these features just exist in another game.
• 9:09
  [Danny Reyes] Built in from the start.
• 9:11
  [Becca Hartwell] From early access,
• 9:13
  [Becca Hartwell] thats what gets me.
• 9:14
  [Becca Hartwell] This is the floor,
• 9:15
  [Becca Hartwell] not the ceiling.
• 9:16
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 9:17
  [Danny Reyes] careers,
• 9:18
  [Danny Reyes] because I feel like thats actually the
• 9:19
  [Danny Reyes] The best signal for where the full game is going.
• 9:22
  [Becca Hartwell] Yeah,
• 9:23
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims Community put out a careers guide Thursday,
• 9:26
  [Becca Hartwell] and what stands out is that the system feels like it has actual structure,
• 9:30
  [Becca Hartwell] not just a job you leave for and come back richer.
• 9:33
  [Danny Reyes] So more active than Sims 4s rabbit hole jobs?
• 9:37
  [Becca Hartwell] Seems like its designed to be.
• 9:39
  [Becca Hartwell] The place is called Melino,
• 9:40
  [Becca Hartwell] the town in the game,
• 9:41
  [Becca Hartwell] and the careers feel woven into that setting rather than just a stat.
• 9:45
  [Becca Hartwell] That you manage.
• 9:46
  [Danny Reyes] That's the detail that makes me think they're building something that actually hangs together as a world.
• 9:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Right.
• 9:52
  [Becca Hartwell] And remember,
• 9:53
  [Becca Hartwell] this is early access.
• 9:54
  [Becca Hartwell] The post-release roadmap Sims community covered Friday shows them focused on expanding this stuff through September.
• 10:01
  [Danny Reyes] So the foundation is there.
• 10:03
  [Danny Reyes] They're building up.
• 10:04
  [Becca Hartwell] The floor is already higher than where some games end.
• 10:08
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 10:08
  [Danny Reyes] speaking of games doing the work to patch their foundations.
• 10:11
  [Danny Reyes] The Sims 4 dropped patch 2.34 last week,
• 10:15
  [Danny Reyes] and I have notes.
• 10:17
  [Becca Hartwell] Oh, no.
• 10:18
  [Danny Reyes] Oh yes,
• 10:19
  [Danny Reyes] we'll get into what actually got fixed and what a producer is saying about quality of life updates going forward.
• 10:25
  [Danny Reyes] That's next.
• 10:31
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 10:31
  [Danny Reyes] flip side of Paralives Week because Sims 4 also dropped something.
• 10:35
  [Becca Hartwell] A patch. They dropped a patch.
• 10:39
  [Danny Reyes] Patch 2.34,
• 10:40
  [Danny Reyes] May 21st, and honestly,
• 10:43
  [Danny Reyes] it's fine.
• 10:44
  [Becca Hartwell] I mean, according to MP1st, it fixed the Kaz bug where opening clothing categories wasn't jumping to what your Sim was already wearing.
• 10:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Which, okay,
• 10:53
  [Becca Hartwell] that's been annoying me for months.
• 10:55
  [Danny Reyes] Right,
• 10:55
  [Danny Reyes] and Sims Community covered the hotfix notes too.
• 10:58
  [Danny Reyes] Two.
• 10:59
  [Danny Reyes] Gallery fixes,
• 11:00
  [Danny Reyes] eyedropper tool issues,
• 11:02
  [Danny Reyes] CAS stuff,
• 11:03
  [Danny Reyes] the kind of patch where you're like,
• 11:04
  [Danny Reyes] cool,
• 11:05
  [Danny Reyes] thank you,
• 11:05
  [Danny Reyes] moving on.
• 11:06
  [Becca Hartwell] It's the Sims 4 experience in a nutshell.
• 11:09
  [Becca Hartwell] You wait 10 minutes for it to load and the reward is a clothing category bug got fixed.
• 11:14
  [Danny Reyes] That's so accurate though.
• 11:16
  [Becca Hartwell] I've accepted it.
• 11:18
  [Becca Hartwell] I've made peace.
• 11:19
  [Becca Hartwell] This is my life now.
• 11:20
  [Danny Reyes] Okay, but the more interesting thing from this week was the Gamespot interview.
• 11:24
  [Danny Reyes] Sims community covered.
• 11:26
  [Danny Reyes] Producer Morgan Henry talking about future quality of life updates and the marketplace.
• 11:30
  [Becca Hartwell] Oh yeah,
• 11:31
  [Becca Hartwell] what did they actually say?
• 11:33
  [Danny Reyes] So basically it's more QOL coming,
• 11:36
  [Danny Reyes] they're aware what players want,
• 11:37
  [Danny Reyes] the marketplace is going to keep growing,
• 11:39
  [Danny Reyes] the usual reassuring language,
• 11:41
  [Danny Reyes] you know?
• 11:42
  [Becca Hartwell] I mean,
• 11:43
  [Becca Hartwell] I get it, but it's a little hard not to read that interview against the Paralives news from the last two segments.
• 11:49
  [Danny Reyes] As a gallery creator,
• 11:51
  [Danny Reyes] I'll say whenever producers talk about
• 11:53
  [Danny Reyes] Talk about the marketplace-I pay attention.
• 11:55
  [Danny Reyes] There are real creators putting real work in there,
• 11:58
  [Danny Reyes] and how EA supports that infrastructure actually matters.
• 12:02
  [Becca Hartwell] Totally.
• 12:03
  [Becca Hartwell] And like the QOL stuff has been genuinely good this year.
• 12:06
  [Becca Hartwell] That's not nothing.
• 12:07
  [Danny Reyes] No, it's not.
• 12:08
  [Danny Reyes] It's just, it's the contrast a lot this particular week.
• 12:12
  [Becca Hartwell] Right, right.
• 12:13
  [Becca Hartwell] Speaking of community filling the gaps,
• 12:15
  [Becca Hartwell] the open apartments mod from modder TyJoker on Sims Community?
• 12:19
  [Becca Hartwell] That's a big one.
• 12:20
  [Danny Reyes] Wait,
• 12:21
  [Danny Reyes] for Rent?
• 12:22
  [Becca Hartwell] For Rent.
• 12:23
  [Becca Hartwell] Unlocking open apartments so neighbors actually feel like they share a building.
• 12:27
  [Becca Hartwell] That's a thing players have wanted since that pack launched.
• 12:31
  [Danny Reyes] And the Origins mod is also making the rounds this week.
• 12:34
  [Danny Reyes] Sims Community had a whole guide up today.
• 12:36
  [Danny Reyes] It's from Ellesimsworld and basically lets your Sims have a cultural background,
• 12:41
  [Danny Reyes] like actual roots and identity built into the game.
• 12:45
  [Becca Hartwell] And that's not in the base game.
• 12:47
  [Becca Hartwell] Like EA hasn't done...
• 12:48
  [Becca Hartwell] hasn't done that?
• 12:48
  [Danny Reyes] Nope. Modder did it.
• 12:50
  [Becca Hartwell] Classic.
• 12:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Modders really are out here patching EA's vision before EA ships it.
• 12:56
  [Danny Reyes] You know what I mean?
• 12:56
  [Danny Reyes] The community just builds what it wants.
• 12:59
  [Becca Hartwell] And honestly,
• 13:00
  [Becca Hartwell] that's the thing about Sims 4.
• 13:01
  [Becca Hartwell] The game is whatever the community makes it at this point.
• 13:05
  [Danny Reyes] Which is either a strength or a warning sign,
• 13:08
  [Danny Reyes] depending on how you look at it.
• 13:09
  [Becca Hartwell] Yeah, both probably.
• 13:11
  [Danny Reyes] Both.
• 13:12
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 13:12
  [Danny Reyes] so while all this is happening,
• 13:14
  [Danny Reyes] EA has also been making some questionable moves.
• 13:15
  [Danny Reyes] Some quieter beefs on the franchise side,
• 13:18
  [Danny Reyes] and some of them are genuinely strange.
• 13:20
  [Speaker 4] Strange how?
• 13:21
  [Danny Reyes] Like pulling games from sale and leaking new ones at the same time strange.
• 13:31
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 13:32
  [Danny Reyes] so EA's been making some quiet moves this week.
• 13:35
  [Becca Hartwell] Oh, we're going here? Good.
• 13:37
  [Danny Reyes] First one, Sims Medieval.
• 13:39
  [Danny Reyes] Just gone.
• 13:41
  [Danny Reyes] Pulled from sale without any announcement or warning.
• 13:44
  [Becca Hartwell] Since community reported it,
• 13:46
  [Becca Hartwell] and like no press release,
• 13:47
  [Becca Hartwell] no farewell post,
• 13:49
  [Becca Hartwell] nothing,
• 13:50
  [Becca Hartwell] EA just quietly retired it.
• 13:52
  [Danny Reyes] That game came out in 2011.
• 13:54
  [Danny Reyes] 15 years and it gets a silent exit.
• 13:57
  [Becca Hartwell] Not even a moment of acknowledgement,
• 13:59
  [Becca Hartwell] that's wild.
• 14:00
  [Becca Hartwell] Wild, right?
• 14:01
  [Danny Reyes] I mean, it wasn't a mainline Sims game,
• 14:03
  [Danny Reyes] but it had a real fan base.
• 14:05
  [Danny Reyes] People loved that one.
• 14:07
  [Becca Hartwell] And here's what makes me think about it more.
• 14:09
  [Becca Hartwell] EA has been clearing the back catalog.
• 14:11
  [Becca Hartwell] What does that signal about where the franchise is heading?
• 14:14
  [Danny Reyes] I think it could just be licensing cleanup.
• 14:17
  [Danny Reyes] Or it's making room,
• 14:18
  [Danny Reyes] which
• 14:19
  [Becca Hartwell] Room for what, though?
• 14:20
  [Danny Reyes] brings us to the other thing.
• 14:22
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay, yes,
• 14:23
  [Becca Hartwell] the Project Rene screenshots.
• 14:25
  [Danny Reyes] GAMINGbible and Sims Community both covered this.
• 14:28
  [Danny Reyes] An anonymous tip,
• 14:30
  [Danny Reyes] alleged screenshots,
• 14:32
  [Danny Reyes] actual gameplay.
• 14:33
  [Becca Hartwell] Alleged. I love that word in this context.
• 14:36
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 14:37
  [Danny Reyes] So what are we looking at?
• 14:39
  [Becca Hartwell] The screenshots show something that looks like open-world neighborhoods,
• 14:43
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims walking around outside without load screens,
• 14:46
  [Becca Hartwell] Real-time street activity.
• 14:48
  [Danny Reyes] Okay, if that's legit,
• 14:50
  [Danny Reyes] that's a big deal.
• 14:51
  [Becca Hartwell] The community's going absolutely feral over it,
• 14:54
  [Danny Reyes] Yeah.
• 14:54
  [Becca Hartwell] split between this is fake.
• 14:56
  [Becca Hartwell] And EA finally listened.
• 14:58
  [Danny Reyes] So I want to ground this a little,
• 15:00
  [Danny Reyes] because I attended EA Play a few years back,
• 15:03
  [Danny Reyes] met the dev team.
• 15:04
  [Danny Reyes] These are people who genuinely care about the game.
• 15:07
  [Danny Reyes] They know what players want.
• 15:09
  [Becca Hartwell] But knowing and shipping are different.
• 15:12
  [Danny Reyes] Completely.
• 15:13
  [Danny Reyes] And leaked screenshots from an anonymous email are not a roadmap.
• 15:17
  [Becca Hartwell] Right,
• 15:17
  [Becca Hartwell] right.
• 15:18
  [Becca Hartwell] But it does tell us something that these images exist at all,
• 15:21
  [Becca Hartwell] even if they're early.
• 15:22
  [Danny Reyes] The timing is not subtle either.
• 15:25
  [Danny Reyes] Paralives just launched to massive numbers.
• 15:28
  [Danny Reyes] Open neighborhoods are basically the thing players said Sims 4 needs most.
• 15:33
  [Becca Hartwell] Competition does funny things to roadmaps.
• 15:36
  [Danny Reyes] It really does.
• 15:38
  [Danny Reyes] So here's what I'd actually want to know from our listeners:
• 15:41
  [Danny Reyes] If Project Renee turns out to be real,
• 15:44
  [Danny Reyes] what's the one thing it has to get right for you to care?
• 15:47
  [Becca Hartwell] For me,
• 15:49
  [Becca Hartwell] load screens.
• 15:50
  [Becca Hartwell] If my sim can walk next door without a three-minute cutaway,
• 15:54
  [Becca Hartwell] I'm in.
• 15:55
  [Danny Reyes] That's the bar-not drama,
• 15:57
  [Danny Reyes] not careers-just functional neighbors.
• 16:01
  [Becca Hartwell] The bar is on the floor and I'm still hopeful-that's the Sims experience.
• 16:06
  [Danny Reyes] Drop your answer in the community tab.
• 16:08
  [Danny Reyes] We want to know what would bring you back.
• 16:15
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 16:16
  [Danny Reyes] that's a wrap on a big one!
• 16:17
  [Becca Hartwell] Paralives dropping two hundred fifty thousand copies in eight hours and we're just supposed to act normal?
• 16:24
  [Danny Reyes] Totally wild; and that moment where we talked about players finally having options,
• 16:29
  [Danny Reyes] that stuck with me.
• 16:30
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 16:31
  [Becca Hartwell] The Life Sim genre just got a lot more interesting.
• 16:34
  [Becca Hartwell] And honestly,
• 16:35
  [Becca Hartwell] the modding community showing up on day one over there?
• 16:38
  [Becca Hartwell] That's a healthy sign.
• 16:40
  [Danny Reyes] Thoughtfully,
• 16:41
  [Danny Reyes] Meanwhile,
• 16:41
  [Danny Reyes] EA is quietly retiring Sims Medieval.
• 16:44
  [Danny Reyes] Medieval and leaking Project Rene screenshots into the void,
• 16:47
  [Danny Reyes] it's a lot.
• 16:48
  [Becca Hartwell] A lot.
• 16:50
  [Becca Hartwell] So the takeaway this week:
• 16:51
  [Becca Hartwell] competition is good,
• 16:53
  [Becca Hartwell] actually.
• 16:54
  [Danny Reyes] Thanks so much for hanging out with us. Seriously,
• 16:56
  [Danny Reyes] if you liked today's episode,
• 16:58
  [Danny Reyes] subscribe and leave a review.
• 16:59
  [Danny Reyes] It helps other Simmers find the show.
• 17:01
  [Becca Hartwell] And share your wildest Sims stories with us over at Socials. We're at Plumbob Report.
• 17:06
  [Danny Reyes] Sul sul,
• 17:07
  [Danny Reyes] everyone!
• 17:08
  [Becca Hartwell] Sul, sul.