The Sims 3 is a 2009 social simulation video game created by the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is part of the The Sims series and follows The Sims 2. The game was released on June 2, 2009, for Microsoft Windows, MacOS, and mobile devices. Console versions were released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS in October 2010, and for Wii a month later. A Nintendo 3DS version, released on March 27, 2011, was one of the platform's first games.
The game is based on the same ideas as its earlier versions, The Sims and The Sims 2. Players control the lives of characters, called Sims, as well as their homes and neighborhoods. The Sims 3 introduces an open world system, allowing Sims to move freely around neighborhoods without loading screens. A new tool called Create-a-Style was added, which lets players customize clothing, hair, and most objects, walls, and floors using different textures and materials. Players can save their custom designs for future use.
The Sims 3 was a critical and commercial success, selling 1.4 million copies in its first week. It has sold over ten million copies worldwide since its release, with more than seven million sold on PC. This makes it one of the best-selling PC games ever. The game received eleven expansion packs and nine "stuff packs." A sequel, The Sims 4, was released in September 2014.
Gameplay
In The Sims 3, players control their Sims' actions and relationships, just like in earlier games in the series. The game does not have a specific goal, and players can explore open-ended gameplay. Sims live in neighborhoods, now called "worlds," which can be customized. Players can design houses, community areas, and Sims, though many of these features are included in the base game. These worlds are now seamless, meaning Sims can move freely between areas without loading screens, unlike previous games.
Neighborhoods include community lots, such as parks, gyms, and job sites like hospitals and businesses. The game introduces a "Story Progression" system, allowing all Sims in the neighborhood to live their lives independently, even if the player is not controlling them. This helps the neighborhood's story develop for all Sims, not just the ones the player is actively managing. Sims live for a time set by the player and go through life stages: baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, and elder. Sims may die from old age or accidents like fire, starvation, or drowning.
The base game includes the world Sunset Valley, and another world, Riverview, is available for free. Most expansion packs include new worlds, which can be purchased using SimPoints. Sunset Valley is connected to the story of earlier games, such as The Sims and The Sims 2, and includes characters from those games in younger forms.
Careers in The Sims 3 allow Sims to earn raises, bonuses, or improve relationships by working overtime or completing tasks. Challenges and skill-based requests from neighbors or community members can also provide rewards. The game replaces the "Wants and Fears" system with a "Wishes" system, where fulfilling a Sim's wishes increases their Lifetime Happiness score, allowing players to buy rewards using these points. A new tool called "Create-a-Style" lets players fully customize objects and clothing by choosing colors, materials, and patterns.
The Sims 3 offers more character customization options than The Sims 2. Players can adjust age, body shape, skin color, hairstyles, clothing, and personality. A new life stage called "young adulthood" is now available through the Create-a-Sim feature. Additional options, like tattoos and muscle definition, were added in expansions. The game includes a wider range of skin tones, including realistic and fantasy colors.
Instead of personality sliders, The Sims 3 uses a "trait system," where adult Sims can select up to five traits from a list. These traits influence Sims' actions, behaviors, and wishes. Sims learn skills by interacting with objects, improving gradually through 10 levels. Skills help achieve career goals and unlock new activities, such as planting rare seeds with high gardening skills. Basic skills include Cooking, Painting, Gardening, and others, with more added in expansions.
Many careers from earlier games return in The Sims 3, including Business, Culinary, and Education. Jobs take place in community lots, which are only visible from the outside. Players can control how Sims work, such as choosing to "Work Hard" or "Suck Up To Boss," affecting their performance. New features like branching careers let Sims choose specialized paths, such as focusing on Rock or Symphonic music in the Music career.
The Ambitions expansion pack adds new jobs, like Firefighter and Architectural Designer. Some jobs, like Stylist, take place in community lots, while others are freelance. Sims can earn money by selling art, writing novels, or redecorating homes. Players can also buy businesses and earn profits.
The build and buy tools let players design houses and community lots. Build mode allows adding walls, floors, stairs, and pools, while Buy mode lets players purchase furniture, appliances, and vehicles. Many objects have humorous descriptions. The build and buy modes now allow more flexible placement of objects, and a new "blueprint mode" is included.
Development
Electronic Arts announced The Sims 3 on March 19, 2008. On January 15, 2009, Maxis invited some of the best custom content creators to their campus in Redwood Shores for a Creator’s Camp. During the week, creators explored and made content such as Sims, houses, and other customized items. Their work was used to fill The Sims 3 Exchange with content before the game’s release. On May 8, 2009, Maxis announced that The Sims 3 had gone gold, meaning the game had finished testing and was ready for manufacturing ahead of its June 2009 release. On May 15, 2009, Maxis released online teaser experiences on the The Sims 3 website. These included SimFriend, which let users choose a virtual Sim Friend who would email them daily; SimSocial, which allowed users to create their own Sim and go on an adventure; and SimSidekick, which let users surf the web with a Sim. Two weeks before the game’s release, an unauthorized copy of the digital version leaked online. Maxis said the leaked version was incomplete and had many problems. The game faced more copyright issues than Spore, the most downloaded game of 2008, also made by Maxis.
Maxis used feedback from earlier games to improve The Sims 3. To make animations look funny yet realistic, the team filmed real people doing tasks in exaggerated ways until they were satisfied. Each character in the game had a unique life story, goals, and personality. Developers worked hard to make the game world feel smooth and the characters feel real.
On October 31, 2008, Electronic Arts released two teaser trailers that humorously showed the 2008 U.S. presidential election, featuring candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, along with their running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. In April 2009, Electronic Arts posted billboards in many areas, including Times Square in New York City, to advertise the game. These billboards cost about $10 million per month. On March 23, 2009, The Sims 3 was included in an episode of One Tree Hill.
On April 19, 2009, Target released a promotional disc with a Ladytron poster, a theme song download, and a $5 off coupon. The disc included screensaver downloads, videos, and tools like Create-a-Sim and Create-A-House, but no actual gameplay. In July 2010, Ford allowed players to download the Ford Fiesta Mark VII car, along with street signs. In October 2010, the Fiesta Hatchback was added. In 2011, the 2012 Ford Focus was made available, including T-shirts, a stereo, and neon lights. The Focus pack was available on Mac, PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
In 2012, EA partnered with singer Katy Perry to promote The Sims 3. A special Katy Perry Collector’s Edition of the Showtime expansion pack and a limited edition Sweet Treats stuff pack were released. These items included elements from Perry’s Teenage Dream album, including a Simlish version of her song “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).”
Music for The Sims 3 was composed by Steve Jablonsky. Scores were recorded with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at Newman Scoring Stage. Other artists, including Ladytron, Darrell Brown, and Peppino D’Agostino, produced music for the game’s stereo and guitar objects. Additional music was provided by APM Music. Two soundtracks were released: The Sims 3 Soundtrack and The Sims 3 – Stereo Jams. The latter includes Simlish songs from in-game stereos. Artists like Katy Perry, Lady Antebellum, and Flo Rida performed songs in Simlish.
On February 3, 2009, the release date of The Sims 3 was delayed from February 20, 2009, to June 2, 2009, in the U.S., and June 5, 2009, in the U.K. EA Singapore held a large launch party on June 2, 2009, at Bugis+ shopping mall. T-shirts were sold at the event. In Sydney, Australia, on June 4, 2009, Electronic Arts Australia hosted a fashion event showing the game’s focus on self-expression, featuring a performance by Jessica Mauboy.
The game was released in standard and Collector’s Editions. Both editions included a coupon for 1000 Sim Points. The standard edition had the core game, while the Collector’s Edition added a 2 GB flash drive with game wallpapers, a European-style sports car download, and other items. Pre-orders included a vintage sports car download and a neighborhood poster. A preview CD with music samples, family descriptions, and career details was also released.
When The Sims 3 launched on June 2, 2009, it included versions for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on the same disc. Previous games were released for Mac later. The Mac version used Transgaming’s Cider to emulate Windows features. Mac performance was often slower than on Windows, especially on high-end systems. The 32-bit version was not compatible with macOS Catalina or later. On October 2, 2019, Maxis announced a 64-bit version, The Sims 3 (64-Bit & Metal), for Mac OS X Catalina or later. Players who registered the game on Origin received the update for free. The updated version was released on October 28, 2020.
The Sims 3 used a modified version of Criterion’s RenderWare engine for PC. The engine was adapted to support open-world simulation and data streaming.
Ports
The Sims 3 was released on mobile devices in two versions at the same time as the PC version in June 2009. The first version, which uses touch controls and 3D graphics, was released for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch. It works similarly to the PC version. This version was later released for Android, Bada, Symbian (called The Sims 3 HD), Palm webOS, and Windows Phone on October 15, 2010. A second version, which uses a cursor and 2D isometric graphics, was released for the Java (J2ME) platform. This version was also released for N-Gage 2.0 on July 14, 2009, and for BlackBerry App World and Windows Mobile in November 2009.
In Create-a-Sim, instead of Lifetime Wishes, players choose from personas. Personas help decide which lifetime wishes a Sim can have, as they are the most important part of a Sim’s personality. Sims start with a small house. The house can be expanded every five sim days if the player has enough money. There are four careers available in the town: biology, politics, business, and culinary. Sims can also learn skills, just like in the PC version. The game includes nearly 75 wishes. When all are completed, Sims unlock the criminal career and can buy a car. In some situations, such as when appliances break, players must play a mini-game to fix the problem.
On November 6, 2009, EA announced a vampire-themed expansion pack for the iPhone. The pack included "Live it" and "Wear it" sets. "Live it" sets have cars, furniture, decorations, wallpaper, and flooring. "Wear it" sets include clothing, new character creation options, and hairstyles.
Several standalone expansion packs were released for the mobile version. The first was World Adventures, released for Java in February 2010 and for iPhone on April 2, 2010. This pack added tombs, new challenges, personas, careers, new locations (China, Egypt, and France), clothes, and furniture. A second expansion pack, Ambitions, was released on September 16, 2010. It added new skills (firefighting, painting, parenting, and sports), new community buildings, and the ability to have children. The Supernatural expansion pack, based on magical and gothic themes, was released for Java in 2012. The Winter Edition expansion pack was also released for Java.
Developed by Edge of Reality, The Sims 3 was released for video game consoles on October 26, 2010, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS. It was later released for Wii on November 15, 2010, and for Nintendo 3DS on March 25, 2011. Players can take up to three friends in the Life Moments Game on the Wii, upload and download content on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network (including furnishings, houses, and player creations), or experience a full life simulation on the Nintendo DS. Reviews of the game ranged from average to moderately positive. Sims can age and die, and life cycles can be turned off. The game includes a new Karma system, similar to the influence system in The Sims 2. Sims can interact with child Sims in the neighborhood or have children of their own. Unlike the PC version, the console versions have loading times when moving between areas or accessing build/buy modes.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions received mostly positive reviews. On Metacritic, the game has an average score of 77 out of 100 for PlayStation 3 and 76 out of 100 for Xbox 360. Game Informer gave the 360 and PS3 versions a 9/10, praising the Karma system and The Exchange. GameSpot gave the game a 7/10, noting that it lacks fluidity but is still fun. IGN praised the console controls but criticized the limited number of towns and technical issues, such as a glitch that prevents saving after a certain week. The Wii version received mixed reviews and was criticized for poor performance and glitches due to the Wii’s weaker hardware.
Expansions, add-ons, and editions
The Sims 3 had many expansions, add-ons, and special versions, including eleven expansion packs and nine stuff packs. Stuff packs only add new items, such as furniture, clothing, and hairstyles. They do not add new ways to play the game. Stuff packs work on both Windows and Mac OS X, just like the main game and expansion packs.
Reception
Critics and gamers generally gave positive feedback about The Sims 3. Metacritic calculated a score of 86 out of 100 based on 75 reviews. PC Gamer gave the game a 92% score and an Editor's Choice award, calling it "The best Sims game yet." IGN rated the PC version 8.9 out of 10, stating that the game offers a better playing experience than earlier versions. The game’s larger size was a risk, but it was a necessary and well-timed decision. IGN praised the game for providing a strong foundation for future success.
GameSpot gave The Sims 3 a score of 9.0 out of 10, calling it "the greatest Sims game" and noting it balances new ideas with familiar elements. The game was ranked No. 91 on IGN’s "Top 100 Modern Games" list. It also appeared at No. 89 on a special list of the 100 greatest video games of all time in Edge magazine.
For the Nintendo 3DS version, IGN gave it a 7.5 out of 10. The review noted that while some changes, like improved graphics, were welcome, other features, such as multiple saves and personality traits, were removed. The review also said that the version is still enjoyable for newcomers, despite its flaws. The Sims 3 was nominated for "Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
EA reported that The Sims 3 sold 1.4 million copies in its first week, making it the most successful PC game launch for the company at that time. Retail data from Gfk Australia showed that The Sims 3 was the top-selling game in Australia from its release until June 30, 2009. By the end of 2009, it was the best-selling PC game worldwide. Since its release, The Sims 3 has sold over ten million copies globally, becoming one of the best-selling PC games of all time.