REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Let the fur fly! Will you have a pet or be a pet? Now you can play both ways as pets are Sims too! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced The Sims™ 3 Pets is now available in North America on PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, Nintendo 3DS™ and as an Expansion Pack on the PC/ Mac*. Developed by the award-winning team at The Sims Studio, The Sims 3 Pets gives players the ability to play as a pet for the first time in franchise history and see The Sims world through their eyes.
Across all platforms, players will be able to use the robust Create a Pet tool to customize dozens of breeds of cats and dogs. On the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC/Mac, players are able to design their pet from their coats, colors and body shapes, and even down to their snouts and age. Players can also choose from a variety of unique personality traits such as friendly, hyper, clueless and piggy, offering limitless opportunities for fans to create the pets of their dreams or nightmares.
“Pets have always been the top requested theme from our players, and we are delivering a deep, rich experience in The Sims 3 Pets for our fans to enjoy,” said Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “From the moment a player starts the game, they’ll revel in the opportunities to recreate their childhood pet, train their dog to be the most desirable or despicable animal in the neighborhood, share their favorite pet on The Sims 3 Exchange or witness the special lasting relationships their Sims build with their pets. The Sims 3 Pets is about the moments that are unique to the player who lives them.”
The Sims 3 Pets also features gameplay experiences specific to each platform. Exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, players will explore all new venues and embark on mysteries in the New England-style town of Sugar Maple Coast. Karma Powers return to the console games and give players the ability to bestow wealth on their Sim or completely uproot their lives. New Karma Powers include: Transmogrify that allows a Sim, cat or dog to turn into a different species; Meteor Strike that drops space rocks from the sky; Feral Possession which turns players’ pets into furry terrors; and more. Exclusive to the Xbox 360, players who are Kinect-enabled can use voice commands to quickly jump between areas of Create a Sim and live mode to change outfits, fulfill the needs of both their Sims and pets and more.
In The Sims 3 Pets PC/Mac Expansion Pack, players are able to create and adopt dogs, cats and, another first for the franchise, horses. Fans are able to take their Sims and their pets on wild adventures while exploring the new world with animal-specific venues and environments such as the dog park, cat jungle or horse stables. Another exclusive to the PC/Mac version, players will be able to search through their world for the elusive unicorn. The magical unicorn can be added to a player’s household after they’ve built up the relationship enough. Unicorns offer fun opportunities to play with life by being able to bless other Sims, teleport around the world and even spark fires. Other minor pets that Sims can own and interact with, but are not fully controllable, include birds, rodents, lizards, turtles and snakes.
Unique to the Nintendo 3DS version of The Sims 3 Pets, players can now create, customize and control a household full of pets without any human Sims. In addition, players will be able to save up to three separate games, each with its own household of three playable Sims. Through gameplay, players can add a fourth member to their household. The Sims 3 Pets on Nintendo 3DS lets fans use Play Coins collected from the Nintendo’s 3DS pedometer feature to spend as Karma Power points. Additionally, players will be able to use Nintendo’s StreetPass™ function to share their Sims and pets with other Nintendo 3DS users in near vicinity.
The Sims 3 Pets is rated “T” for Teen, with an MSRP of $49.99 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and $39.99 on Nintendo 3DS and PC/Mac.
The Sims 3 Plus Pets is also available on PC/Mac and bundles The Sims 3 base game and The Sims 3 Pets Expansion Pack with an MSRP of $49.99.
For more information, visit http://www.thesims3.com/content/en_US/promo/pets/pets.htm, like the game on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. For more information on The Sims 3, visit http://www.thesims3.com/.
*Requires The Sims 3 for PC/Mac to play.
About The Sims
The Sims™ franchise, the groundbreaking game series that allows players to create and live a virtual, simulated life on a computer, celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2010 and has sold more than 140 million units since its launch in February 2000. Now translated into 20 different languages and available in 60 different countries, The Sims series has quickly become a universal gaming and cultural phenomenon. Since its June 2009 launch, The Sims 3 has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide across multiple platforms and was the #1 best-selling PC title for 2009 in North America and Europe. Fan intensity is evidenced through nearly 250 million downloads of player-created content including: The Sims characters, houses, stories and more. The Sims 3 community site, www.thesims3.com, welcomes up to seven million unique visitors monthly, handles more than 240 content downloads every minute and more than 3.5 million uploads to date, including 11 movies each hour. The Sims 3 YouTube Channel is within the top 10 most-viewed sponsored channels of all time, with more than 45 million video views. Visit The Sims 3 official website to see what the players are creating at www.TheSims3.com or the official YouTube Channel for The Sims at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSims. The Sims 3 is available for PC, Mac, iPhone®, iPod touch®, mobile devices, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, Nintendo DS™, Wii™ and Nintendo 3DS™. Join The Sims 3 Facebook or Twitter communities at www.facebook.com/thesims3 and www.twitter.com/thesims3. In August, 2011, The Sims Social browser-based game launched on Facebook and within one month garnered an impressive 50M monthly active users and secured the #2 position on Appdata’s chart of top Facebook games. To play The Sims Social, visit www.facebook.com/TheSimsSocial.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company’s game franchises are offered as both packaged goods products and online services delivered through Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in 75 countries.
In fiscal 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed™, Battlefield, and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available at http://info.ea.com.
The Sims and Need for Speed are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Mass Effect is a trademark of EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. John Madden, NFL and FIFA are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.