Gaming

‘The Sims’ Is Teasing A Seriously Strange New Development

What on earth is happening here?

by Amanda Yeo  20 February 2019
The Sims

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The Mother is coming to The Sims 4. ΔĆĆ€PŦ Ħ€Ř ǤI₣ŦŞ ΔŇĐ ΔŁŁ ŴIŁŁ β€ Ŵ€ŁŁ.

Early this morning, The Sims‘ Twitter posed an unsettling gif of bug-eyed, grinning Sims in military garb, teasing that “something strange” is coming to the game.

Released in 2014, The Sims 4 has had the benefit of regular expansions, and many fans believe this may be a teaser for a new one.

The SimGurus, community managers for the game, have also been overcome by this unsettling condition. The majority have changed their profile pictures to equally wide-eyed versions of their Sim selves, and have been posting cryptic messages exclusively in front made up of special characters.

These creepy tweets have had a rather fanatical bent, featuring recurring themes such as eyes and a being called “The Mother” — presumably not someone’s actual mum.

Though a few scared SimGurus remain, they are unlikely to be unaffected for long. It’s unclear how the affliction spreads, but it seems that at least one of the ways it can be transmitted is via email.

Fans are speculating that a Sims 4 expansion with an extraterrestrial bent may be on its way.

Some SimGurus have been urging people to “ĴØIŇ [them] IŇ ŦĦ€ ĆŘΔŦ€Ř”, leading many to believe it may have something to do with The Sims 2 neighbourhood Strangetown. Strangetown was marked by a large crater, presumably made by an alien spacecraft, and was closely linked to alien activity.

Another hint that this could have something to do with aliens is the repeated message from SimGurus instructing people to “ŁØØK ŦØ ŦĦ€ ŞK¥”.

Redditor emily_kc noted that an infectious condition called “Strangetown Syndrome” was mentioned in The Sims 3, though the game never showed anybody who had it it, and speculates that this syndrome could be what is affecting the SimGurus.

There’s also a horticultural element, with other repeated messages concerning “ŦĦ€ FŘUIŦ ØF ŦĦ€ ΜØŦĦ€Ř” and “ŦĦ€ β€ΔUT¥ ØF Ħ€Ř βŁØŞŞØΜŞ“, as well as proclaiming that “ŴΔŦ€Ř IŞ ŁØV€ ŴΔŦ€Ř IŞ ŁI₣€“. Perhaps The Mother is a plant-based alien who infects people with spores. That doesn’t explain the email thing, though.

We’ll have to wait for a Sims‘ live stream tomorrow at 5:00AM AEDT to find out what this all means, and if alien plants can spread their pollen via the internet. It’s a bit early for a Thursday morning, but ŦĦ€ ΜØŦĦ€Ř ĆΔŁŁŞ ΔŇĐ I ΜUŞŦ Ř€ŞPØŇĐ.