Many already expect this: The Sims Online isn't the hype the media believed it was. The sales of the game are disappointing to EA. Since the release, 82,000 people registered, while EA was expecting to have sold 200,000 copies of the game by the end of March 2003. The offline version has sold over 8 million times now worldwide (that's only the original, including expansion packs it totals 20 million sold copies all over the world), but the online version isn't doing that well. Several reviews are not too positive about the game, and many fans find it lacking the experience they expected. Other players quit the game because their accounts are being flagged for saying they're bored or for saying the game's boring - 3 flags means you're banned from playing the game. To improve sales, the game will cost $39 to buy starting next week. If you're planning to get it, wait a week and save $10 - that's one month play time.
EA COO Ricitello says: "We probably made an error in expectations. We feel great about the intellectual property, and we expected the transfer to an online model to be a quick hit in the marketplace". Several features that were wanted at the launch have been delayed until April. However, EA is still doing very well, as they had some record sales over the last quarter of 2002 (over the whole company). The company reported a net income of $250.22 million for the quarter, compared with $132.29 million in the same period a year ago (an increase of 89%). The total revenue during that quarter was $1.23 billion, compared with $833 million a year ago (an increase of 48%). These facts come from GameSpot - thank you.
Written at 00:32 on Friday, 31 January 2003 by ChEeTaH.
