10 Longest-Running Video Game Franchises With The MOST Quality
9. The Sims
Whether The Sims is your thing or not, the life simulation giant is a video game icon and has been since the first game came out in 2000 after which it has sold almost 200 million copies.
Has EA nickel and dimed its players beyond belief? Absolutely. Does every subsequent entry have even more paid DLC packs than possibly any other franchise out there? Totally. But the series is an iconic hallmark of video game history, especially in its unique ability to attract casual gamers.
While we can’t forget the cancelled 2007 film based on the game which is deeply confusing since the game is just based on real life, almost every game in the franchise has been critically acclaimed. The Sims is a cult phenomenon enticing its players with the worlds they can create, the challenges they set themselves, the joy of the digital simulation playground, the discoveries they make, and the various ways they can kill their tiny Sims.
Which, by the way, have never been as extensive as they are in The Sims 4 where you can in fact die by being swallowed up in a Murphy bed. Perhaps one of the greatest things the game offers is the thriving community of creators who share homes, families, mods, items, and just about anything you can imagine.
It’s difficult to think of a franchise that offers up more emergent gameplay experiences than this one.
Whether you like the creativity side, the roleplaying, or the challenges where you try to do things like have 100 babies or live totally off the grid, there’s a mind boggling number of ways to play so it’s little wonder the franchise has persevered for as long as it has with no end in sight.