Yeah but they're kids. They wouldn't even know what to google. They'd search for something dumb like sex.com and then give up when they're unsuccessful there.

Or perhaps Sims introduces them to it. They play it, it's like a dollhouse, but then comes "woohoo," they wanna know what it is, search it in youtube and then they get some loser constantly making his simself have sex with celebrities and "learn" from there.

All I'm saying is Sims absolutely has a demographic below age 13 and who knows how big it is.

The Sims Freeplay always gets the better looking stuff. Have you seen the build/buy assets they get? Absolutely gorgeous AND low poly. All of their whites are so white, too - walls, floors, doors, windows, furniture - and the same shade. Everything is consistent. The quality of design from Sims Mobile to TS4 is like day and night.

But the prices...

This remind, first time I ever heard of sex might been when my brother played the game when I was too young and he told me that "babies comes from beds". I might vaguely remember his words, but it was unclear and I got confused while thinking to myself " what? Don't they appear in hospitals/whombs?". Back then I only knew pregnancy is a thing, but not much about sex.

Anyway, it's irrelevant story of mine, lol. Returning to the topic, does even EA knows what they're doing. Again, I think it would only work because people lack restrain for keeping their wallets in pocket, not because Baby Aerial is on the cover and promoted in any way.

Lol, comment section in there. Amusing to read. Yeah, she really does have million and million of followers. There's not much to say when every comment "who is she" speaks for itself.

Personally, my issue wasn't really that I didn't know who she was, but that having sims based on real people in game really creeps me out.

Not to judge anyone who does base their sims off real people. I just personally don't want that in my game...

Well let's just not kid ourselves about what this means: they're motivated by potential sales and money and not by what the fanbase actually wants. The fact Grant even admits to this like it's no big deal is kinda funny.

I mean you could reword his statement and say "it's a sales tactic. It's not about whether our current customers know about her, but rather about all the POTENTIAL customers that know about her." Yeah exactly, so the satisfaction of current customers is taking a backseat to attracting fresh blood and new money. Thought that was obvious enough already but thanks for confirming it for us Grant.

There are plenty of companies that would seek to utilize someone that their fans actively want and focus on consumer satisfaction. EA/Maxis clearly isn't one of those. I mean it's as if fans are demanding Waluigi for Smash Ultimate and then Nintendo adds Master Chief and says "you guys gotta understand Master Chief has millions of fans. We're trying to let others know how cool Smash Ultimate is."

So what exactly is this girl's involvement in the game, aside from her self sim showing up as another random NPC? Did I miss something? Are they pulling another Sweet Treats (Good God, I hope not)? If not, then this really wasn't worth the attention that Maxis (or the fans) have been giving it XD

I hadn't, this is the first I am seeing/noticing the discrepancy. :/ Disappointed for sure as it is - don't know if I particularly want the wound to fester by looking further


Well, I can't exactly say Ts1 & Ts2 didn't have a hand in teaching me about the birds and the bees... I digress...

So I've been trying to do some more research on this girl without watching her videos (Because...well the thumbnails alone are enough for me to know they're nothing I'd ever wanna subject myself to). I'm usually pretty good at staying up to date with big YouTube personalities but she just....completely fell under my radar. Which makes me think she's not as big as Grant insists she is. But whatever. Her videos seem just like the stuff teenage girls eat up. So it makes sense for Maxis to use her, since that seems to be their target demographic this time around.

It's free content that isn't hideous (though it's not very good either) and it was easy enough to rid myself of her sim. Normally I'd say "no harm, no foul" but...well isn't this the patch that introduced a game breaking stereo?

I heard from someone that she isn't nice either. Fact or hoax, it surely is something they would do. Oh and it sures improves transparency, because who doesn't know us and new players than baby aeriel. God this ordeal is just stupid.

Why is this not a separate download? What if you don't know who the crap she is and don't want her (or her crappy clothes) in your game? I think I've found another reason to not play #4.

It’s funny how everyone keeps saying “I don’t know who she is,” and Grant is all “She’s followed by millions! She’ll bring new fans to the series!”

There are YouTubers followed by millions and I wouldn’t know them from a can of paint.

I know it’s the PR thing to do to spin something negative into a positive, but let’s be honest - they cheaped out and didn’t want to hire an actual celebrity, so they got a “rising star.” Baby Ariel is a 1-star celebrity at best. Not even being mean, but she’s just not famous, just followed. There’s a big difference.

This thread is just too funny. I'm really surprised none of you have heard of her because every post sounds like gossipy mean girls in high school.

The bad part about your joke is your misunderstanding of the context do the situation. We know who baby Ariel is NOW. People knew of Katy Perry BEFORE her introduction to the Sims - this is back during TS2, not TS3. Hell, Katy Perry got branded content to retail distribution. She had a whole pack devoted to herself and likeness.

Baby Ariel has a Sim in an EP and a base game update across multiple mobile games.

If Baby Ariel is so famous, why can’t her name alone sell a pack? Where is the Baby Ariel edition? Where’s her stuff pack?

Yes, but her peers/followers knew of her BEFORE. And that's the group EA is trying to reach. As for a stuff pack? Give it time. Maybe it will be a collaboration with Maddie Ziegler.


As of 2018, she has over 26 million followers on the app.
Ariel has also built a following on other social media networks,
including more than 9 million followers on Instagram, 2.9 million
subscribers on YouTube, 1 million followers on Twitter, and
280 thousand followers on Facebook.

That's a lot of potential Sims 4 players.

So? That doesn't mean those people are going to suddenly decide to play this game. Also, I've never heard of Maddie Ziegler and I already don't want her in the game.

^^^^
Hit the nail right on the head. Cheap as it may feel, It doesn't matter if none of us know who this chick is. Maxis ain't doing this for us. They're doing it to leach onto any of this girl's fans who don't already play the Sims.

That said....I do believe in the power of celebrity endorsements, but I gotta question how effective they are with video games. I doubt someone who wasn't interested in Warcraft before would suddenly start playing because Chuck Norris was in a Warcraft commercial. And I doubt anyone who wasn't already interested in the Sims is gonna play just because Baby Ariel's sim and a few bargain bin looking stuff from her clothing line are in the game.



Wait...who?

Sorry If I read that saying word by word, but If I were to utter that - I really hope to be proven right. I just don't think that stradegy is gonna cut it on bringing all teenagers, or to be precise - female pre-teenagers (I don't think all boys would really fit in with her content, I mean I can't imagine all of them following her footsteps and find her as a great role model/figure). Even If they do manage of somewhat bringing all teenagers to the game with the help of Baby Aerial, then oh boy their losing a lot by excluding other demography that have been with the franchise for a long time since its birth).


You know, just when you mention it - I tried searching up on youtube If she has any real connection to The Sims 4. I shit you, as I expected - no results were found If she even at all plays The Sims 4 according from the thumbnails. I mean, that's sort of is the problem. That begs all the quetions:

How would fans know her If she even plays the game? Does she promote it in her videos and do recorded playthroughs?
How would she bring her fans to play the game other than If they themselves stumble upon in any of game's community platforms by accident?

Katy Perry at least alluded that she has ties with EA's video game franchise in her music video of whatever it is called (the one with candy-diabetes theme). Heck, she even recorded a simlish version of her songs back when TS2 was relevant, one of the examples being in Apartment Life EP video. Besides that, her fame that is greater in numbers of how big she has aids with it. Again, I'm really clueless on how this Baby Aerial gonna be effective advertisement wise.

I'm sure they know what they're doing. Freeplay and Mobile are both free if you're following her on Tik Tok then you HAVE a phone as it's only an app. I read a few days ago that they're charging for color swatches individually in Mobile and lower prices on the clothes themselves to compensate. Unless you've got compulsion issues or no job, the original prices weren't really a concern. But if you're 11...well.
I bet S4 isn't even the game they're trying to get these tweens to play, since it's normal expense is large barrier to younger children. Coincidentally this promotion is going on when S4 and it's DLC's are also heavily discounted, so shouldn't be hard to convince a parent to spend $7 on it.

AGAIN, followers and fame are not the same. People follow you because you’re cute, had a funny video, like your outfits, etc. That doesn’t make your famous or influential.

The Sims isn’t a niche indie steam game - The Sims is The Sims. The audience isn’t the problem. Their audience is right there. I had a cousin who was DOE HARD into COD playing the Sims. Their audience is buying less because their audience wants better products, which EA doesn’t want to invest in. They want to sell leftovers and scraps at a premium then get made when sales are low.

Who’s buying Baby Ariel Stuff? Previous branded content packs have a certain appear. IKEA was low-end luxury/stylish, simple furnishings. H & M was grounded in realistic, versatile fashions with hip and trendy boutiques. Diesel was designer and grunge modern looks for rich Sims. Sweets Treets was fun and iconic (albeit tacky) Katy Perry looks.

Baby Ariel? What is she offering up beyond graphic teees and some hair? What is... THE LOOK?

The Sims were a little different back then. TS1 had multiple celebrity endorsements at once as well (Superstar). That changed in TS2, but they changed gears in TS3 - they needed lots of funding). Katy Perry was on everything within her contract. TS2 & TS3 both had branded packs. One only had branded content to download from the internet.

TS4 doesn’t have any kind of branding attached to it. They couldn’t even get a real celebrity. I’d take Katy back. She’s looking a little more normal nowadays.

I wonder who they would have went with if they had more budget.

I think since they are actually into the teenage girls or whatever : Ariana Grande, or someone like that. We would also get some sweet songs, too.

Ariana Grande also has a more defined style, unlike this Ariel girl who wears ordinary clothes.

Do people really look up to her? That's unfortunate, given that Ariana Grande has a horrendous diva persona. She's probably got more talk circling about how full of herself she can be than anyone else in the industry since the days when Jennifer Lopez was more mainstream.

Undeniable that she's a talented singer and actress, but still a little disheartening to know there's a likelihood her fans will emulate some of her attitude, and that's not a good thing.