The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is the the newest installment of The Sims franchise. Its creation was confirmed on November 2, 2006, by EA chief financial officer Warren Jenson who said, "Yes, there's a Sims 3 in development and it's likely to be a fiscal '09 title." In July 2007 AI researcher Richard Evans, who is part of the TS3 team, gave a talk at the annual AIIDE (Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment) conference in California, notes from which can be read here. The title was to be released on February 20, 2009 according to the official Sims 3 website, but was delayed worldwide to June 2, 2009. Electronic Arts cites the reason for the delay was to "create awareness for The Sims 3".

In The Sims 2: FreeTime, a computer is delivered by Mr. Rod Humble to every household that a player plays. On it, Sims can play The Sims 3 game. A video of this can be seen on YouTube. It shows something towards a continuous, panning neighborhood, diagonal placings for objects, better lighting systems, and the ability to change shoes in the CAS, an ability previously limited to only console versions of The Sims. The preview only lasts about one minute, and has poor resolution.

The Sims 3 Official Site also reveals that players now have greater customization options. Such things like Personality, Create-A-Sim, and Build Mode have been expanded.

It has been confirmed that several expansion packs will ship periodically after the game's initial release.

The game has disc-based copy protection – there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game no online authentication is required.

Will Wright, the creator of the original The Sims, was not involved in the production of The Sims 3, Maxis was also not involved.

Expansion Packs
EA has confirmed that The Sims 3 will have expansion packs, 2 due for release in November. However, due to the consolidation of EA Black Box (and closure of several studios), it is unknown who will develop the expansion packs, it is possible EA Play and/or Criterion Games will develop expansion packs instead of the new EA Black Box. The first expansion pack, The Sims 3: World Adventures, was announced August 3rd 2009.

Comparison
A few features from the original The Sims 2 are not in the original The Sims 3. Some are the Cleaning and Creativity skills, the Slacker career, and aspiration rewards. See Comparison between The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 for a complete list.