Fans of the Sims games will be delighted to know that there’s a reality show called The Sims Spark’d.
The Sims Spark’d follows a fairly traditional format where contestants will be given a particular goal while a panel of three experts will judge the creations. The prize? A whopping $100,000.
To win, contestants have to impress the judges with compelling stories inside of The Sims 4.
“Something that has always been so special to The Sims is the community and how much our players connect with each other to celebrate, share, collaborate, and show off the things they’ve been able to make or share their stories,” Lyndsay Pearson, GM of The Sims franchise, said to The Verge.
“What we’re doing with Spark’d is a really interesting evolution of exactly that. It’s the same DNA, the same motivation.”
According to EA, the 12 contestants are comprised of familiar online personalities and were chosen due to their existing presence online.
These contestants are also chosen for their ability to play the game in different ways in terms of building skills, creating characters and telling stories. This is all to show what else players can do in The Sims.
The panel of celebrity judges are made of singer Tayla Parx, Youtube personality Kelsey Impicciche and game developer Dave Miotke, who has worked on The Sims franchise for more than a decade. Former American Idol contestant Rayvon Owen will be the host of the show.
The Sims Spark’d hopes to introduce a new audience to the game by showing the creative side of playing The Sims.
“There’s a benefit to putting something that felt previously unattainable into something as accessible as a TV show,” Pearson explains.
“It can feel daunting if you don’t know about a game like The Sims, and you go see these people make something amazing on YouTube. But putting it into a format that introduces you to the people behind those creations, that introduces you to the smaller steps through challenges, and gives you insight into how they approach them, I think breaks down some of those assumptions and some of those barriers.”
On July 17th, The Sims 4 will feature a series of in-game challenges tied directly to the show too. The idea behind it is to give those who are just learning about the game an encouragement to start building something of their own. These challenges will also be used to look for new contestants for the second season.
The Sims Spark’d will air on TBS on Fridays and Saturdays starting from July 17. For the rest of us, we can watch it online the following Monday on Buzzfeed’s “Multiplayer” Youtube channel.
