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Library/Game/The Sims
Grade B21 sourcesHIS-01468

The Sims

Game · 2000 · Notable

48Editable slideCertificate

EA reported 6.3 million shipments as The Sims became the best-selling PC game.

Trailer · The Sims on YouTube
The Sims
Wikipedia (non-free, fair use)
Official EA Steam screenshot of the original Sims interface, house and pool in the Legacy reissue.
Electronic Arts / Maxis
Historical official game website, now redirected; use the artifact’s April 2000 archive for the original site.
Electronic Arts

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagion45Breadth50VelocityNo data yetLongevityNo data yet48

Numbers

User-created stories on TheSims.com, EA report
34K
As of Mar 21, 2002 · Open web · Self-reported · Electronic Arts (press release reproduced by SimsNetwork)
Seed to milestone
2.1 years
Feb 4 ’00 to Mar 21 ’02
Platforms
3
Started on Retail
Origin
Mixed
Gaming

Mechanics

  • Shareable outputPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Maker origin
  • Underdog

How it spread

Trace the origin

The Sims launched in 2000. Players traded skins and furnishings on fan sites and published stories with its album tool. EA added expansion packs and paid advertising. Its reported shipments passed Myst’s record in 2002.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.

US PC retail sales chart (PC Data/NPD) · #1 at the top2000-05-07: #22000-05-14: #22000-05-21: #22000-06-04: #22000-06-25: #32000-07-02: #22000-07-09: #22000-07-23: #22000-09-03: #32000-10-29: #32001-01-21: #12001-01-28: #12001-02-04: #12001-02-11: #12001-02-18: #12001-03-11: #12001-04-07: #42001-04-29: #32001-05-06: #42001-11-17: #52001-11-25: #32001-12-23: #32002-01-20: #4Feb ’99Feb ’00JunFeb ’01NovNov ’02Nov ’03Oct ’04Mar ’10Aug ’15Jan ’21May ’25MilestoneOpen webPressRetail
Open webPressRetail

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

US PC retail sales chart (PC Data/NPD): 23 dated figures from SimPage.net, each checked against the source. Measured at the time, not estimated.

Timeline (16)

  1. January 2000

    Will Wright precursor · Jan 20 ’00

    Wright described free creation tools and fan-made skins in a CNN chat.[1]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. February 2000

    WIRED precursor · Feb 1 ’00

    WIRED previewed The Sims and described its support for downloadable objects.[2]

  3. Maxis / Electronic Arts seed · Feb 4 ’00

    Electronic Arts released The Sims for Windows in North America.[3][4][1]

  1. press · Feb 5 ’00

  2. platform jump · Apr 8 ’00

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

Do this

  1. 1
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  3. 3

Pro opens the playbook, all 12 sourced numbers and 21 sources. Start with a free account.

Join freeGo Pro
Origin
Mixed
Sector
Gaming
Region
US
User-created stories on TheSims.com, EA report
34K
As of Mar 21, 2002 · Open web · Self-reported · Electronic Arts (press release reproduced by SimsNetwork)
Evidence
Grade B

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How the next thing spread, the week it does.