EA is shutting down "The Sims Mobile"
A mobile offshoot of the "The Sims" game series will soon no longer be playable: "The Sims Mobile" will be completely shut down. Purchased content will be lost.
(Image: EA)
EA is shutting down “The Sims Mobile.” The mobile offshoot of the popular game series will disappear from app stores on Tuesday afternoon, EA announced. Those who have already installed the app can continue playing until January 20, 2026, before the title becomes completely unplayable. This also means that all purchased additional content will be lost.
In-game currency that is not spent in time will also expire. EA is informing users of the game about this in a blog post. EA does not provide a reason for the shutdown. The game has not received new content since 2024. “The Sims Freeplay” exists as an alternative for mobile devices, which is much better received by the community and is presumably played more than “The Sims Mobile.” In the subreddit of “The Sims Mobile,” however, there is great anger about the shutdown.
Continue playing only for money
“The Sims Mobile” was released in 2018 and is a typical toxic free-to-play mobile game with an in-game store and a constantly ticking timer that prevents further play until it is reset with money. In the past two weeks of the game's operation, i.e., from January 6 to January 20, EA will unlock previously paid content for all players. “We want to give everyone the opportunity to build their dream home, design their perfect Sims, and experience everything TSM has to offer before the servers are closed,” EA writes in the blog post.
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The shutdown of video games, making them unplayable, is not uncommon. However, there is growing resistance to this in the gaming community. The initiative “Stop Killing Games” advocates for publishers and developers to permanently provide a playable version of their titles. This can be achieved, for example, by integrating an offline mode into purely online games, as Ubisoft recently did with “The Crew 2.”
(dahe)
