Les Sims 4 : quid des versions PS5, Xbox Series et Switch, des polémiques en Corée et du développement en télétravail ?

Could you please briefly introduce yourself?

GN: Yeah sure, Hi Marine. So, I am Graham Nardone, I’m the Lead Producer on The Sims 4 Snowy Escape. Let’s see, I have been with Maxis for about 11 years now. I joined the studio on June 2nd 2009 and, it’s funny, I can always remember that day clearly because it’s actually the date that The Sims 3 launched. I had 2 of our long-standing producers Grant Rodiek and Lyndsay Pearson, do an interview with me and hire me that same day and, they’re still with the studio as well, of course. So, just a long term vet that I worked on all The Sims 3 packs and I have been with The Sims 4 since the beginning when it launched and just have a lot of long-standing history creating the game and chatting with our fans about it.

What does exactly mean "Lead Producer"? How much have you been involved in the development of this new extension? How many people have worked on it?

GN: So, Lead Producers within The Sims, I guess it really ultimately comes down to making a lot of decisions (laugh). Ultimately, we kind of hold the reins of the capacity that we have, of the resources that we have. How are we going to spend that. What content are we going to create with that time. And making the decisions of what ultimately goes into the pack. So, I hopped onto this project early in the concepting phase. We had this inkling of an idea of we wanted to do winter activities. We wanted to visit the Japanese countryside and really ran with it from there in terms of how that pack would take shape. A little bit of how we work internally is, we have these strike teams that kind of roll off early from other projects onto new projects that are getting started. So working with this small group to just lay that foundation of the pack. And then, as more and more the team rolls on, ramping that up in intensity, helping load-balance the project, load-balance individuals who run the project, and ultimately bringing it to fruition. So, now coming out the other end of that project, we get to do a lot of the public facing stuff. It’s usually the Lead Producer on the pack who’s going out there, really introducing that pack to our players, chatting with wonderful people on the press like you. It’s really start to finish things. It’s fun kind of being able to making a lot of these decisions because you see a lot of it in that final product.

I saw that you worked on The Sims 3: World Adventures Expansion Pack. How has it influenced this new Snowy Escape pack, especially on the "Asian" aspect? How far did you go on your researches about Asian world?

GN: Yeah, World Adventures! Well, that takes me back in… (laugh) That was way back in 2009. That was the very first thing that I worked on when I came to the studio. Honestly, it’s a little bit of a blur. That was my first role as a producer, back then as well. I spent the majority of my time on that pack actually creating some of the dungeons that came with the pack. I think that you mentioned the Asian aspect of that pack. Specifically, we had this world of Shang Simla which is a fictional location set within China. I think in terms of influences from Snowy Escape, there’s probably not a lot of direct parallels there. One thing that is important to remember is, Snowy Escape is very much of a Japanese-inspired world, whereas Shang Simla was a Chinese-inspired world. It is important for us to not necessarily mix those cultures, they’re two very distinct locations, with distinct people, with distinct histories. So we do research into that stuff, of course, when we looked to bring that into the game. One of the things that we do right now on those fronts is, we have these employee research groups – sorry, employee resource groups – within EA. One of them is called “ASPIRE” and that is aimed for Asians and Pacific Islanders Represent. But basically, there are groups of employees from various cultures and backgrounds, who work at EA. Some of them choose to volunteer their time working with game teams to ensure that when we are looking to do these diverse experiences in other cultures or backgrounds that we may not have first hand knowledge of, that we’re doing that in authentic and respectful ways. We did a lot of research on that front in terms of what a Japanese-inspired take would look like within The Sims 4. I think that comes through in the ultimate pack, and it really enriches it.

Since the release of the trailer, Korean community has raised concern about culturally sensitive content, which are a shrine in front of which we can see Sims praying and the rising sun flag, which may refer to Japan colonialism to Korean people’s eyes. What do you think about it?

GN: We put that trailer out initially and obviously got some reaction from our Korean audience. And that was something that we looked to swiftly address because when we create content for The Sims, we want to do that and create a place for our players that is an optimistic place that they can go and experience this positive outlook on life within The Sims. Nothing that we do, when we delve into other cultures or locations, is to cause offence to any of our players. We want that to be a fun location for them. As we’ve looked into the pack originally, we were talking with that ASPIRE group, getting a lot of Japanese perspectives on the pack. This was an opportunity to calls for acting. That’s something we did quickly so that would be a great location for everybody.

What are the main points of Snowy Escape you are the most proud of?

GN: For me, it has to be the mountain itself. It’s really unlike anything we have done in The Sims before. It is not the first time we have touched on something like skiing or snowboarding but in the past, they have always been limited to these restrictive objects that were rather small. If we were snowboarding, it was just on halfpipe. I think the last time we did skiing, we have to go all the way back to The Sims 1, and it was this tiny little object, that did not look true to life at all (laugh). But obviously, technology has come a long way over the 20 years of the franchise. It’s wild going in there and seeing Mount Komorebi come to life in game where you have these different slopes and trails and a full mountain side for your Sims to go skiing and snowboarding and sledding down. They improve over time because those are full skills for your Sims to learn so they can tackle higher-difficulty trails and they can start pulling off jumps. When it all comes together in game, you can see that gondola carrying Sims up the mountain side and a blizzard starts to roll in on the mountain. It’s all just very impressive. That’s a great atmosphere. I think the mountain itself kind of takes on this character of its own because you can go up the mountain side on the mountain climbing excursion and that ultimate moment, the celebratory moment where you peak through the cloud layer and you make all the way to the peak of the mountain. It’s just so unlike anything you have seen in The Sims title. I think it really stands apart.

Next-gen consoles are about to be released soon. Will The Sims 4 be playable on PS5 and Xbox Series? How will they improve user experience?

GN: Well, I know I am personally very much looking forward to the launch of the new consoles, but we don’t have specific information to share on that just yet. I would just suggest to look for some news from us soon on that front.

We already know that we can play The Sims 4 on PS4 and Xbox One, but not on Switch. Any reason why?

GN: We hear so much from our community. There is no shortage of content that they want us to add to this game, so… (laugh) A lot of our time right now has been focusing on the platforms we are already on. PC, Xbox, Playstation, and of course our mobile titles as well, are really what we are focused on right now, so no plans for other platforms at the moment.

Do you play The Sims 4 in your spare time? How? Are you more of a builder, Sims creator or storyteller?

GN: (laugh) It’s funny, I do play it a bit of my own time, mainly because I find it gives me a different perspective on the title. Honestly, it’s a little bit different. I am going to have to see if that stays true in 2020 because I used to be in the office all the time. We were all in the office working on the game together. What I like to do after pack launches is, I would come home, I would just kind of take myself out of that work environment, and I’d sit down and just play the game for a while. It gives you this different experience and it lets you reflect on what you’ve have created and think about, maybe, what you’d have done differently, or how you’ll carry that forward in a new way for a new pack that you are working on. We’ll have to see this time because, obviously, we have been home for the entirety of the development of this pack, which makes a very different experience. I don’t know, we’ll see if that still feels different. When I am at home, actually I personally play on the console. It sounds funny to say it but I do not have a high-powered gaming PC at home and not that you need one to play The Sims 4. We support a wide generation of players, but these days I am playing it on my Playstation. When I am in game, I actually enjoy building most of all. I’ve always been a builder and I think that probably goes back to the start of The Sims 3 where I came on. One of the very first things I did, I think I mentioned, was building some of those tombs in World Adventures. Something that has always fascinated me. Before I even got to be in the industry, I’ve always really enjoyed and loved design and worked on a number of mod teams out there. It’s kind of a thrill for me to do that stuff directly within The Sims. I know with this release in particular, I’m just greatly looking forward to getting my hand on the new platforms build tool because that is just going to unlock just so much creativity for our players and so many great new things being uploaded to the gallery.

Any last word?

GN: Oh boy! Last word… (laugh) Come check out the expansion pack, it’s going to be fantastic, whether it’s the winter activities, whether it’s the Japanese-inspired culture. We’ve talked about the activities earlier but I think all the stuff in there that is inspired by Japan just adds this rich new layer to the game. Visiting the Onsen bath house, going for a hike and a location like a bamboo forest. Even small things like Sims taking off their shoes when they come inside were the new depths of personalities from the lifestyle system. There is just so many different things on offer on this pack which is hard to summarize in one question but, I think it’s what the players are really going to enjoy and remember for a while to come.