EA Goes Private, The Sims Gets Freebies, and Paralives Buries Its Weird Babies

Becca Hartwell: Hey everyone, welcome back to the Plumbob Report. Danny Reyes: Becca, we've got a stacked one today. Becca Hartwell: Oh, for sure. First up, EA's fifty-five billion dollar sale to that Saudi-led group just closed. Official done. Danny Reyes: Wait, it's actually final? I've been waiting for that shoe to drop for months. Becca Hartwell: It dropped, and Jared Kushner's fund is in the mix, so we've got a lot to say. Danny Reyes: Oh, we do. So much to say. Becca Hartwell: Right? We'll get into what that means for Maxis and what actually stays the same. Danny Reyes: Then there's The Sims 4 side, a new patch, a new hairstyle pack, and Maxis is teasing some mystery free content. Becca Hartwell: Ooh, and modders are already-- Danny, don't even start. Danny Reyes: I didn't say a word. I'm just saying the timing is interesting. Becca Hartwell: Ugh, here we go. Danny Reyes: Also, Paralives dropped a massive update. They tossed the homunculi babies completely. Becca Hartwell: Wait, they got rid of the creepy little babies? Danny Reyes: Gone. And apparently, bodies don't pile up in the street either. Becca Hartwell: That's giving Sims 2 in the best way, honestly. Danny Reyes: Say less. Oh, and Fields of Mistria have finally hit its one point o full launch after two years in early access. Becca Hartwell: People are already calling it the next Stardew. We'll see if that holds up. Danny Reyes: Okay, but EA first. Becca, walk me through what's actually changing here. Becca Hartwell: All right. So picture this, the ink's barely dry and already the community's got questions. We wanna hear from you. Submit questions via the web form in the description or give us a call at seven four seven six seven seven one zero three seven and leave your question. Don't be shy. Our AI assistant makes it super easy. Danny Reyes: Fifty-five billion dollars. That's the number. EA is just gone, off the stock market completely. Becca Hartwell: I know. I read it and just sat there staring at my phone. Danny Reyes: Officially closed this week. The AP reported in the Ottumwa Courier Tuesday, sold to a group led by Saudi Arabia's PIF, plus Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Becca Hartwell: And Affinity Partners is Jared Kushner's firm. Riley Hoffman flagged that over at AOL. Danny Reyes: Second biggest buyout in gaming history, right behind Microsoft grabbing Activision Blizzard. Yulia Pobegailova made that comparison on i24NEWS. Becca Hartwell: Qazinform broke down the details. Shareholders get two hundred and ten dollars cash per share. First announced back in September, shareholders signed off in December. Danny Reyes: So this thing's been cooking for basically a year, and now, poof, EA is private. Becca Hartwell: Which changes less than people think day one. No more quarterly earnings calls breathing down Maxis' neck every three months. Danny Reyes: Sure, but also no public shareholders to answer to means new owners can do whatever they want behind closed doors. Becca Hartwell: True, but Sims has survived a lot of ownership turbulence already. Studio shuffles, EA restructurings, the whole mess. Danny Reyes: Has it ever been owned by a sovereign wealth fund with actual geopolitical stakes attached, though? Becca Hartwell: Okay, fair point. I24NEWS raised real questions there. Debt load, jobs, whether franchises like ours get squeezed for cash down the line. Danny Reyes: The community reaction's been all over the place. Half of Reddit's shrugging, the other half's convinced the next pack's getting monetized into oblivion. Becca Hartwell: I get the worry, but responding like the sky's falling before a single decision has actually been made under new ownership feels premature. Danny Reyes: I mean, that Sim is not okay energy is very real in the comments right now. Becca Hartwell: Fair. Nobodys saying this isn't nothing. Its the second-biggest deal in gaming history. That matters. Danny Reyes: Right. And Maxis never had full control over its own future anyway, regardless of whos signing the checks. Becca Hartwell: Exactly. New owners just means new priorities we havent seen play out yet. Danny Reyes: So what actually changes for us staring at Build Mode at eleven PM tonight? Becca Hartwell: Nothing, actually, this week. Thats the weirdly boring part of a fifty-five billion dollar story. Danny Reyes: Wait, seriously? All that money moves and my game looks exactly the same? Becca Hartwell: Pretty much. While the boardroom stuff finalized, the actual game kept getting patched like nothing happened. Danny Reyes: Okay, now thats the part I want to poke at. What actually landed on our machines while all this was going down? Becca Hartwell: Okay, but while boardrooms were on fire, Maxis just kept shipping. Walk me through what actually landed. Right. So August sixth, there's an official patch, and author release notes on Sims Community laid out three fixes. A memory crash that happens while your Sim's traveling, gone. Danny Reyes: Oh, the one where loading screens just eat your RAM. Finally. Becca Hartwell: Exactly. Second thing, manual saves were overwriting the wrong slot. So if you had like five save files- Danny Reyes: Wait, it could just delete a whole legacy save? Becca Hartwell: Overwrite it, yeah. And third, stuck countdowns for school and careers- Danny Reyes: Mm-hmm Becca Hartwell: ... which is such a small fix, but it was driving people nuts. Danny Reyes: And Jovan reported there's also a hotfix riding along with that same August sixth window, right? Becca Hartwell: Yep. Separate statement, same day. Minimal impact on mods and CC, which is the phrase every modder holds their breath for. Danny Reyes: Every single patch note ever. Becca Hartwell: But here's the actual news. Maxis dropped a surprise trailer this week teasing a free content update. Big one. Danny Reyes: I saw the trailer. What's actually in it? Becca Hartwell: Ashley Claudino on Polygon covered it. New CAS items for teens through elders, hairstyles, shirts, sweaters, plus random build objects specifically for kids. Danny Reyes: Wait, kid-specific build objects? That's giving- Becca Hartwell: Don't. Don't say it Danny Reyes: I wasn't going to. Okay, I was Becca Hartwell: The simscommunity.info write-up on that same teaser said it covers all sizes of adult-shaped Sims, so it's not just a CAS refresh. It's touching build mode too. Danny Reyes: Free stuff always gets me more excited than paid packs, honestly. Becca Hartwell: Same. Speaking of paid, though, Jovan also covered a Maker Pack that dropped this week, the Musical Note Collection from a creator called Newsea. Danny Reyes: Wait, isn't Maker Pack stuff usually a Thursday thing? Becca Hartwell: That's what's weird. This one skipped the usual window, which might mean they're testing two releases a week. Danny Reyes: Interesting. What's actually in it? Becca Hartwell: A hairstyle, that same hairstyle with a head accessory, and a neck ribbon. Three bucks or 300 Simoleons if you're spending in-game. Danny Reyes: $3 for a ribbon is either a great deal or a crime, and I refuse to pick a side. Becca Hartwell: It's cute. I already put it on, like, four Sims. Danny Reyes: Of course you did. Meanwhile, some modder's gonna recreate the whole collection for free by Friday. Becca Hartwell: Probably. That's kind of your whole personality at this point. Danny Reyes: I have receipts, Becca. It happens every single pack. Becca Hartwell: I know, I know. But there's something about official CAS work, the shading, the way the hair actually moves during autonomy. Danny Reyes: Versus a Sim standing at a pool ladder for six hours because pathing forgot they existed. Becca Hartwell: Okay, fair. The ladder thing is still not fixed, and it's been years. Danny Reyes: Some bugs are just permanent roommates at this point. Becca Hartwell: Honestly, yeah. Danny Reyes: Speaking of tools shipping fast, though, Paralives apparently got its own Command Center, like an actual mod for it. Wait, already? Becca Hartwell: That's wild for a game still in early access. I've got the whole rundown right here. Danny Reyes: So quick update on that tease. Paralives dropped a lot more this week than just a mod. Please tell me this is about the babies. Becca Hartwell: Please tell me this is about the babies. Danny Reyes: The babies are gone, Becca. Oisin Kuhnke wrote about it for Rock Paper Shotgun. The homunculi got redesigned right out of the August 10th update. Becca Hartwell: Wait, no. Those screaming blob babies were art. Danny Reyes: They looked like sourdough starter with eyes. Becca Hartwell: They had charm. Danny Reyes: Kuhnke's basically saying good riddance. And honestly, same. Becca Hartwell: Mm-hmm. Okay, but the bigger fix in that same patch, dead bodies were piling up in the streets permanently. Danny Reyes: Wait, that's real? Becca Hartwell: Yeah. Kuhnke's piece flagged it. Corpses weren't clearing, so towns turned into outdoor morgues. Danny Reyes: That is so much worse than a weird baby. Becca Hartwell: Right? And the team fixed both in the same drop. Danny Reyes: Okay, but the real headline for me is MasterCore. Becca Hartwell: Oh, go on. Danny Reyes: Sophie's guide on Sims Community walks through it. This mod from NeonJay is basically Paralives' answer to MC Command Center and UI cheats. Becca Hartwell: Full control over the Parafolks and the world mechanics? Danny Reyes: That's the pitch. Same energy as us maxing out Motherlode, except somebody built the whole toolkit before the game's even finished. Becca Hartwell: That's wild for something still in early access. Danny Reyes: And there's a features preview too. NuboFever covered it on Sims Community, teasing what's coming after this patch. Becca Hartwell: Compare that pace to how long we wait on Sims 4 patches. Danny Reyes: A tiny indie team shipping this fast, mods matching them day one. Becca Hartwell: Um, to be fair, it's still early access. Plenty rough edges left. Danny Reyes: But it buried its cursed babies and its zombie streets in one patch. Becca Hartwell: Impressive turnaround. Danny Reyes: So while EA sorts out ownership paperwork- Becca Hartwell: Paralives is out here fixing haunted towns Danny Reyes: ... Exactly. Speaking of life Sims doing their own thing- Becca Hartwell: Ooh, are we finally talking Paralives? Danny Reyes: We are. That one just left early access completely after two years. Becca Hartwell: Okay, I need details. Danny Reyes: You're getting them right now. Becca Hartwell: Okay, from cursed babies to actual wedding vows, Fields of Mistria just hit 1.0 today. Danny Reyes: A eulogy for the homunculi, then straight into marriage. Rough week for life Sims. Becca Hartwell: Right? After two years in early access, the full launch adds marriage, kids, and this got me, cloud shadows. Jordan Gerblick reported that on GamesRadar. Danny Reyes: Cloud shadows. Weirdly specific flex, but okay, I respect it. Becca Hartwell: And Gerblick says it launched with 26,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam. Danny Reyes: Wow. Becca Hartwell: For a farm sim, that's massive. Danny Reyes: Wait, all Overwhelmingly Positive? Nothing mixed dragging the average down? Becca Hartwell: That's what the piece says. Lauren Morton at PC Gamer went further, calling it the best farm sim since Stardew. Danny Reyes: Okay, them's fighting words in cozy game circles. Becca Hartwell: Morton's follow-up piece on the cast specifically says she's head over heels for these characters. First time she's felt that about a farm sim since Stardew. Danny Reyes: It's never really about the farming, is it? It's who you're falling for at the general store. Becca Hartwell: Right. And Morton's own review calls the writing and the character designs the real hook, way more than the farming loop. Danny Reyes: Which, fair, I've fallen for three NPCs before I even upgraded my hoe. Becca Hartwell: Same energy as my Sims, honestly. The writing and side quests are what keep people up till 2:00 AM for just one more day. Danny Reyes: Meanwhile, my Sims can't pick a bed with a whole existential crisis. Becca Hartwell: Fair. So where does this leave Sims players between updates? Danny Reyes: Honestly, Mistria is a solid detour. Scratch the life sim itch somewhere new while EA and Paralives sort themselves out. Becca Hartwell: I'm booting it up this weekend just for the wedding stuff Morton mentioned. Danny Reyes: I might marry someone in Mistria before I marry anyone in my own game. Becca Hartwell: Honestly, that's the nice part of this whole space right now. Sims, Paralives, Mistria, nobody has to pick just one. Danny Reyes: Big life sim era, a little chaotic, mostly good. Becca Hartwell: And every one of these teams, big publisher or two people in early access, is just trying to make you care about tiny pixel people. That's worth celebrating. Danny Reyes: So tell us, what are you playing this week? Building in Sims, messing with MasterCore, or eloping in Mistria? Becca Hartwell: Drop it in the comments. We actually read those. Okay, so today EA's sale is officially done, the Musical Note Pack dropped, and somehow Paralives fixed dead bodies piling up. Chaotic day for life Sims. Danny Reyes: Chaotic in the best way. $55 billion later, EA is under new ownership, and Sims is still standing. Becca Hartwell: Mm-hmm. Exactly. That patch on August 6th cleared the travel memory crash, so your Sims can actually leave the house now. Danny Reyes: Low bar, but we'll take it. Becca Hartwell: Big takeaway, change is coming, but the community keeps building around whatever EA throws at us. Danny Reyes: And go play Fields of Mistria's 1.0 launch if cozy Sims are your thing. Get married, raise some kids, escape the drama for a bit. Becca Hartwell: Solid advice. Danny Reyes: Sul sul, Simmers. Subscribe, leave us a review, tell your friends. Becca Hartwell: And hit us up on socials @PlumbobReport with your wildest builds and fails. Danny Reyes: Thanks for hanging with us. See you next time. Becca Hartwell: Bye, everyone.