The Sims 3 is a 2009 social simulation video game developed by the Redwood Shores studio of Maxis, and published by Electronic Arts.

The Sims 3 was a critical and commercial success, selling 1.4 million copies in its first week, and is now regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made.

These worlds are now seamless, allowing all Sims to move around freely without any loading screen in between lots, as happened in the previous games.

[8] Career opportunities like working overtime or completing tasks can yield a pay raise, cash bonus, or relationship boost.

Like the previous game, the player can customize age, body build, skin color, hairstyles, clothing, and personality.

The basic skills include Logic, Cooking, Painting, Gardening, Writing, Guitar, Athletic, Handiness, Charisma, and Fishing.

The careers in the core game are Business, Culinary, Criminal, Education, Journalism, Law Enforcement, Medical, Military, Music, Political, Science, and Professional Sports, as well as part-time jobs in the book shop, supermarket, or spa, which can be accomplished by both adults and teenagers.

Thus, jobs are automatic in the game, even if the player will sometimes receive challenges and questions with different options to have more control over the sims' career performance.

Players can control if the Sims "Work Hard", "Take It Easy", and "Suck Up To Boss", thus affecting their performance.

[15] The Ambitions expansion pack includes brand-new professions that are playable: Firefighter, Ghost Hunter, Investigator, Architectural Designer, and Stylist.

Sims are also able to make a living at home through their skills such as selling their own paintings, writing novels, playing guitar for tips, or growing fruit and vegetables.

The Create-a-Style tool can also be applied to redesign every single piece of furniture or building, changing to any color, material, or design pattern.

Players can customize lots, choose terrain patterns and add roads, vegetation, and neighborhood accents, such as water towers and lighthouses.

Some pregnancy symptoms Sims can experience are nausea, backache, reduced or increased appetite, and inability to partake in certain actions or exercise.

On May 8, 2009, Maxis announced that The Sims 3 had gone gold, meaning that the game had finished beta testing stage and was off for manufacturing ahead of its June 2009 release.

[31] Reportedly, the title saw higher copyright infringement rates than that of the most torrented game of 2008, Spore, also developed by Maxis.

[33] In order to make the game's animations look believable but goofy, the team shot real life references of people doing tasks in outrageous ways until satisfied with the outcome.

Candidates John McCain and Barack Obama were included along with respective running mates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

[48] Music for the game's stereo and guitar objects was produced by others, including Ladytron, Darrell Brown, Rebeca Mauleon, and Peppino D'Agostino.

Artists have ranged from Katy Perry, Lady Antebellum, Flaming Lips, Damien Marley, Depeche Mode, Nelly Furtado, and Flo Rida.

[54] The standard edition contains the first release of the core game, while the Collector's Edition includes the Sims 3 core game, a 2 GB The Sims Plumbob flash drive (the USB flash drive is preloaded with wallpapers and screensavers of the game, and the main theme as an MP3 file) with matching Green Carabiner, an exclusive European-styled Sports Car download, a Prima Tips and Hints Guide (not the actual Sims 3 Prima Guide), and Plumbob stickers.

Those that pre-ordered the game also got a Vintage Sports Car download, The Sims 3 Neighborhood Poster, and a quick start reference guide.

On October 2, 2019, Maxis announced that they would release an updated 64-bit version of the game, titled The Sims 3 (64-Bit & Metal), with compatibility for Mac OS X Catalina or later.

[57] The Sims 3 uses a heavily modified version of Criterion's RenderWare as game engine for the PC release, that was adapted to have better simulation and data stream for the open world.

[58] A mobile version of The Sims 3 was released on iOS, Android, Bada, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone on June 2, 2009.

Developed by Edge of Reality,[65] The Sims 3 was released to video game consoles on October 26, 2010, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.

[67][68][69] The game allows the player to take on up to three friends in the Life Moments Game on the Wii, upload and download content on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, including furnishings, houses, and player creations or experience a full life simulation on a handheld with Nintendo DS.

[77] Response from critics and gamers alike were generally favorable, with Metacritic calculating a score of 86/100 based on 75 reviews.

Blowing up the size of the game was certainly a risk, but it was a sensible and overdue one, and kudos to EA for recognizing that the decade-old formula needed some growth.

[99] Reviewing the Nintendo 3DS version, IGN gave it a 7.5 out of 10, saying "while some of the additions are welcome like the new graphics and interface, the removal of certain features like multiple saves, personality traits and calling for services is odd.