EA and Maxis Announce The Sims 4 Marketplace & Maker Program

EA and Maxis have officially unveiled Marketplace — an integrated in-game platform for buying and selling content in The Sims 4 using the virtual currency Moola. Alongside this, the Sims Maker Program is launching, which allows custom content creators to officially publish their packs directly in the game and earn from it.

In this article, we'll break down all the details, talk about the content that will be released on the new platform, and discuss players' opinions.

What is The Sims Maker Program and how does it all work?

Here's how the innovations are described on the official Electronic Arts website:

The Sims Maker Program is a new initiative that allows creators who specialize in custom content to publish officially to The Sims 4 in-game Marketplace. This introduces new ways for them to earn while bringing fresh content to all players around the globe, across every platform.

At the core of the new in-game marketplace are Makers. These are players from the community who develop unique content. Within The Sims Maker Program, accepted participants can earn money by publishing their new creations directly on the Marketplace, allowing The Sims 4 players around the world to use unique content.

Why is this important for the entire community?

The Sims has always been a game that lives thanks to the creativity of its fans. Millions of players around the world create amazing clothing, furniture, and entire homes that often surpass official content in quality. Until now, these talented people worked exclusively out of love for the game, receiving only donations and gratitude from the community.

The new Sims Maker Program changes this situation fundamentally. EA didn't just allow creators to earn — the company provided them with full-fledged official tools, technical support, and direct access to millions of players through the built-in store.

This solution benefits everyone. Creators receive stable income and motivation to develop further. Players — quality content with compatibility guarantee, and EA — a constant flow of fresh ideas from the most creative representatives of the community.

Who is already participating in The Sims Maker Program?

In the official article, you can notice works by popular authors who, judging by the announcement, will definitely be featured in the new program. Among them: Pierisim, Madlen, SixamCC, and Syboulette.

How to join The Sims Maker Program?

Any custom content creator can submit an application for participation starting March 5, 2026, as well as submit their works for review. To pass the selection, you need to meet the following requirements:

• Age 18 and older;
• Not reside in an EA-embargoed region;
• Be proficient in English (communication will be in English);
• Be in good standing with EA’s User Agreement;
• Successfully complete a Technical Evaluation by submitting two assets for review.

All content featured on the Marketplace undergoes human review before release to ensure its safety, usability, and compliance with the game's rating.

How do program participants earn money?

When players purchase Maker Packs on the marketplace, participants of the Sims Maker Program receive income from these purchases within the official Sims Maker Program. Creators themselves choose the amount of content and its value.

The creators' share of all revenue is approximately 30%. This means that for every 100 Moola spent by a user on their content, creators earn 30 USD cents. At first glance, it seems unfair, because currently creators have the opportunity to earn more on other platforms.

What does The Sims company do with its share? They cover costs and fees associated with publication. Besides this, The Sims invests funds in the creator community, supporting them, as well as ensuring the translation of each pack into all 18 supported languages.

What is The Sims 4 Marketplace?

It's a kind of trading platform that provides access to user-generated content on a reliable, officially supported platform. In other words, all user-generated content can be found in one place, without downloading files and checking compatibility with the game yourself.

The Marketplace is fully integrated into the game, you just need to enter it and choose content to your taste. It's clarified that when downloading content, the game won't require a restart.

It's important to say that, according to the developers, the marketplace won't replace free content that authors share on other platforms. The nuance is that such content is not subject to sale through The Sims 4 Marketplace.

The Gallery and base game updates will continue to remain free and will be released as before.

Moola: A controversial but justified decision

The introduction of the virtual currency Moola raises understandable concerns among part of the community. Many players have a negative attitude toward any virtual money, associating it with aggressive game monetization.

However, in the case of The Sims 4, this decision looks reasonable. A system of direct purchases for real money would create technical difficulties when working with many small packs from different authors. Moola simplifies the process and allows creators to release content more often, regardless of the slow update procedures of platform stores.

Moola is The Sims 4's virtual currency that can be used to purchase Maker Packs and The Sims 4 Kits on the marketplace. Purchasing Maker Packs supports creators.

It's important that EA clearly limited the scope of the virtual currency. Large expansions can still be purchased for regular money, and Moola is only needed for small packs and community works.

Players' and popular authors' opinions

Players are quite skeptical and even aggressive in some expressions. Many complain about the small share that creators will earn.

Someone is literally burying the game. Some compare the marketplace to The Sims 3 store, and also complain about the too high cost of content that has always been free.

Here, for example, is a statement from SpinningPlumbobs:

There are also complaints about the relevance of content for console players. Perhaps these mods will appear later, but this may not happen. After all, these are scripts that can hardly be so easily implemented into the game through the marketplace.

Plambocat, an EA Creator program participant, also wrote his opinion:

And there are many such comments, it's very difficult to find at least one good post. Whether this will become a success for EA — we'll find out on March 17, when The Sims 4 Marketplace becomes available to players on PC and Mac.