The Sims 4 will introduce a brand new “Maker” program, allowing content creators to publish and sell custom mod packs on an official marketplace.
This new was announced today by Maxis, which unveiled The Sims Maker Program and Marketplace. Beginning March 5, designers can apply to join the Maker program, which will allow them to submit their work to the Marketplace when it opens on March 17. Only vetted and approved Makers will be allowed to publish and sell their creations. Makers must be 18 years old or older, be able to communicate proficiently in English, cannot reside in one of EA’s embargoed regions, and must complete a technical evaluation by submitting two assets for review. Per Maxis, all submitted content will be reviewed by humans before it can be published.
The Marketplace itself will contain Expansion Packs, Game Packs, Stuff Packs, and Kits created internally by The Sims developers, as well as “Maker Packs” made by the Makers. Items on the Marketplace will be purchased with “Moola”, a virtual currency that can be purchased in set increments (200 Moola for $2.49, 500 for $4.99, 1,000 for $9.99, 2,600 for $24.99, and 5,500 for $49.99). Moola is the only way in which players can purchase Maker Packs, though official The Sims packs can still be bought directly with regular currency. There is no way to earn Moola in-game; it must be purchased, is non-refundable, and it does not transfer from platform to platform. Neither Moola nor Maker Packs can be transferred from player to player.
Makers will receive “approximately 30%” of the purchase price from each sale, with Maxis offering the example that if someone spends 100 Moola on a Maker Pack, that Maker gets $0.30 USD. Makers determine the contents and costs of their packs.
Maxis says that it will continue to allow mod makers to create and distribute work outside of the Marketplace, provided they do not charge for it and remains free, as is currently stipulated in The Sims’ mod policy. However, Maker publications on the Marketplace cannot be available for free or at a cost outside the Marketplace – they must be exclusive.
Marketplace will launch on March 17, 2026 on PC and Mac, and will come to PlayStation and Xbox at a later date.
Just last fall, a number of popular The Sims 4 content creators quit the EA Creator Network in protest after it was confirmed that EA would be acquired by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners in a transaction valued around $55 billion.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
