Games

'The Sims' Is Getting a Reality TV Show

In The Sims Spark'd, contestants will compete for $100,000 grand prize for their in-game storytelling.
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Image: EA

The Sims is getting a reality show. With real people, not Sims.

The Sims Spark'd is a reality competition show which will air on TBS starting July 17. It's made in collaboration with Buzzfeed Multiplayer, Buzzfeed's video game vertical, and ELeague, Turner Sports' esports organization. Over the course of four episodes, contestants will compete for a $100,000 prize by completing challenges that showcase their creativity in storytelling in The Sims. Buzzfeed Multiplayer's Kelsey Impicciche, Singer Tayla Parx and Sims developer David Miotke, also known as SimGuruNinja, will judge.

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The Sims Spark'd has made an effort to incorporate The Sims' vibrant and active fandom into the show. Contestants consist of Sims community members, like YouTubers Plumbella and Xmiramira. For Simmers watching the show, the Spark'd Challenge Program will give them a chance to be on the show by completing a series of in-game challenges.

“Since its inception, The Sims has been a groundbreaking experience, allowing players to create and virtually live out the stories they create in-game,” general manager of The Sims Lyndsay Pearson said in a press release today. “We’re continuing that innovative spirit, bringing our community together to compete and showcase their in-game storytelling on a reality show in an entirely new way.”

I could not be more excited for this show, and not just because I'm already a huge fan of Plumbella and Xmiramira. The Sims Spark'd is an opportunity for me to share my love of The Sims with people who might not otherwise get it. Not everyone will sit down and watch a half hour long video of someone speed building a Sims house, but a lot of people already watch reality competition shows. I, and other Simmers, spend hours upon hours in Create-A-Sim, perfecting our characters, in Build Mode, designing our perfect homes, and also in-game, guiding these characters' lives. It's a tremendous amount of work for something only I, and the rest of the community, will ever see. If there's reality competition shows about flower arranging, baking, and interior decorating, there should definitely be one about The Sims. In order to be good at the game, you have to have the same kind of eye for detail that Henck and Yan have in The Great Flower Fight.

The Sims Spark'd will air on TBS on Fridays at 11, with episodes available for streaming on Buzzfeed Multiplayer the following Monday. Godspeed Simmers, and may your plumbobs guide you to victory.