Homeownership in the The Sims meets homeownership IRL
"The Sims had really kind of seeded that desire for homeownership in me at a young age," said Elle Hunt, a journalist based in the U.K. "And I'd spent the interim 20 years walking away from that dream a bit."
For a generation of video game players, The Sims was a first introduction to homeownership. Originally released in 2000, the game allowed players to create virtual people and build whole neighborhoods with few obstacles (at least, nothing that a cheat code couldn’t solve). In the years following its release, The Sims would become the best-selling PC game at the time. And now, over 24 years later, the series is still going strong with its latest iteration, The Sims 4, becoming the most-played game in the series according to publisher Electronic Arts.
“The Sims had really kind of seeded that desire for homeownership in me at a young age,” said Elle Hunt, a journalist based in the U.K. “And what homeownership represented: the stability, the sense of that you could create a dwelling that really reflected your whole being.”
Hunt had originally played The Sims when she was eight years old, shortly after the game was first released. “I was always very focused on the home ownership aspect of it,” said Hunt. “I would use cheat codes to give myself limitless funds and create sort of gargantuan palaces.”
Twenty years later, she found herself returning to The Sims, this time for a story she wrote in Slate. The experience was bittersweet.
“Returning to The Sims kind of reminded [me] of all of that childhood optimism I had,” said Hunt. “Or not even optimism, just the sense that if I worked hard by age 30, I would be able to have a house where I could knock down a wall. That has not been a guarantee.”
Housing costs have have increased dramatically around the world, including in the U.K. In 2000, the British government estimated it would cost a full-time worker 4.19 times their annual salary to be able to afford a home; in 2023, that nearly doubled to 8.3 times their annual salary.
Hunt spent over a decade renting and just this year, she purchased her first flat in Norwich, England.
“Looking back on my past eight-year-old self playing The Sims, making her McMansions in the suburbs, I think she would have anticipated that I would have maybe had a bigger house and maybe in London at the age of 33,” said Hunt. “But I made choices that were within reach, that I could afford, and I’m very happy with where I’ve ended up.”
Click the audio player above to hear Hunt’s story.