The Sims announces a Creation Club-style Marketplace and Maker program enabling content creators to sell their work directly to players

Sims 4 players who want more stuff in their game will soon be able to "discover, purchase, and play" new content via the Sims 4 Marketplace, an "in-game destination" unveiled by EA today. And for those who prefer to make (and sell) that content, it also announced the Sims Maker Program, which will enable approved content creators to publish their work directly to the Sims 4 Marketplace, and earn money for their work.

The new Marketplace "is fully integrated into The Sims 4," EA said, enabling players to browse and purchase Maker Packs—"a curated collection of Create a Sim and/or Build/Buy items created by a Maker"—and other content using Moola, a new virtual currency. Creators will set the cost of each Maker Pack, and will earn 30% of their Maker Pack sales—so if someone purchases the Snazzy Living Room pack for 400 Moola, for instance, the creator will earn $1.20.

This new program will not replace free content: EA said content creators can continue to offer their work for free on other platforms, under the terms of its standard policy, although content available elsewhere cannot be sold through the Marketplace. Standard Sims 4 content, like expansions, Game Packs, and Stuff Packs, will also still be available for purchase through regular channels using real money.

The Sims 4 Marketplace and Maker program sounds more than a little like Bethesda's Creation Club, which rolled out to some controversy not quite a decade ago and has since proven to be either not a bad idea after all, or maybe just something we all got used to, depending on how you look at these things.

It's a different world now than it was then, though, and I think there's a lot more room for something like this to succeed (or at least to be given a fair shot), especially among Sims fans, who have demonstrated time and again that they don't mind paying for what they want.

Many Sims modders already get paid for their work through things like Patreon, but EA's enforcement of its policies around selling Sims 4 custom content has been unreliable and the community has a sticky relationship with paid mods as a result. An official Maker Program means EA takes a cut instead of another platform, but may at least mean the rules are clearer. This will bring official custom content to console players for the first time, which is a nice bonus.

The Sims 4 Marketplace is set to launch on PC and Mac on March 17, and will come to consoles "in the next couple of months"—no solid date on those platforms just yet, sorry. If you want to sign up for the Maker program, you can dive into that process at ea.com. You'll have to be at least 18 if you want to get in on the action, be "comfortable communicating in English," live in a non-embargoed region, and have an account in good standing. Assuming you've got those bases covered, you'll also have to submit two examples of your work for a "technical evaluation." Applications for the Maker program will open on March 5.