Why The Remaster of The Sims and The Sims 2 Are Bad News

The recent remasters of The Sims and The Sims 2, packaged as EA’s Legacy Collection, promised a nostalgic revival for long-time fans of the iconic life-sim series. But there is a few red flags we should consider before buying the new games.

Isn’t The Sims 4 Old Enough?

Next September, the last game from the saga will be 11 years old. With the release of The Sims and The SIms 2 remaster, it looks like Electronic Arts it’s not ready to publish a new one… Or they prefer to cash more money from two older games, with less work needed.

Thus, it seems it’s a bit of lazy work from a company that has been accused of this lately. Electronic Arts and their annual titles, such as the F1 Saga or EA FC, had the bad reputation of being copy pasted from the older titles with unimportant QoL updates that nobody asked for. The fans of The Sims saga could accept the remaster, but the lack of news of a new game has upsetted the fandom.

Technical Shortcomings and Performance Problems

But the Legacy Collection has its own issues. Technical instability stands in stark contrast to the optimizations expected from modern remasters.

On Steam, both titles sit at a “mixed” user-review score, a rarity for games initially lauded for their stability and charm. For The Sims 2, the game’s resolution is locked at 800×600 until players apply manual workarounds, a surprising oversight for a product billed as modern hardware-ready. Even basic widescreen support is absent or buggy, forcing users to seek unofficial community patches to achieve 16:9 or ultrawide resolutions.

Beyond crashes and resolution woes, graphical textures are failing to load or flicker unpredictably, breaking immersion. Audio issues have also been documented on forums and social platforms. Although EA released a patch addressing Alt+Tab and Alt+Enter crashes, these fixes arrived after an initial criticism wave had already soured community sentiment.

The community efforts to patch themselves these issues highlight a divide between EA’s official support and player dedication. Modders have released unofficial fixes for the most problematic issues, underscoring the gap left by the official remaster.

Commercial Strategy and Community Backlash

Beyond its technical woes, the Legacy Collection has sparked outrage over EA’s commercial strategy, with many players labeling the release a lazy cash grab. At around $40 USD for two decades-old titles, the collection demands more from consumers than the minimal quality improvements justify. Critics point out that core enhancements—such as basic bug fixes and ultrawide support, do not warrant the premium price point, especially when compared to industry standards for re-releases. The absence of modern conveniences, like integrated Steam achievements and cloud saves, further contrasts with what players expect from contemporary remasters.

Another point the user base has made is the lack of new content. Some remasters and remakes in the past have included new stories, items or something of the like in the new versions of the game, but it’s not the case for the Legacy Collection. Some users have been asking for it, expecting some kind of casino experience similar to the website Spin Casino. So far, it has not been the case, and it will have to be a work for the community, again.

Fans note that many of these games were previously available through free promotions, making the current price feel exploitative. Social media platforms are rife with memes and criticism mocking EA’s perceived disregard for long-time supporters. This sense of betrayal is amplified by EA’s broader reputation for aggressive monetization in later Sims titles and other franchises. Many view the remasters as emblematic of a trend where legacy IPs are commoditized rather than celebrated, eroding brand trust.