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EA Abandons Windows Phones As The Sims FreePlay Not Getting Any New Features

Technical support will continue to be offered, though

Apr 7, 2017 22:02 GMT  ·  By
The game will continue to be updated on Android and iOS
   The game will continue to be updated on Android and iOS

After so many developers waved goodbye to Windows Phone, it’s now the turn of EA to do the same thing, as the company has recently announced a decision likely to impact many gamers sticking with Microsoft’s mobile platform.

The Sims FreePlay will no longer get new features on Windows phones, and EA says that the only thing it’ll do is provide technical support. This means that the app won’t be pulled and Windows phone users will be able to launch it, though without updates the game is likely to become obsolete.

According to reports, The Sims FreePlay is now showing a warning to users launching the game after the most recent update, informing that support for the Windows Phone version is pulled.

“Hi Simmers! Thanks for downloading the Day Care update! Unfortunately we are unable to develop any future updates for The Sims FreePlay on Windows Phone. We hope you continue to enjoy Simming as much as we have enjoyed building it for you. Thank you for all your support over the years!”

Switching to Android and iOS

A separate message posted by Firemonkeys, an EA studio in charge of maintaining mobile games, also confirms that The Sims FreePlay is losing support for Windows phones, emphasizing that only technical support will continue to be provided.

“The Day care update from April 2017 will be the final new content for the Windows Phone platform. We’ll still be able [to] provide technical support for current issues,” the statement reads.

In case you are wondering, the easiest solution to continue playing the game and still get updates is to switch to Android or iOS because, in this case, the browser workaround is no longer valid. Developers leaving Windows phones typically recommend users to switch to the browser to access their services without a dedicated app, but it goes without saying that this is not possible for EA’s game.

Unfortunately, EA’s decision is only the most recent in a series of similar departures, and there’s a good chance that more developers would switch focus to Android and iOS very soon given the declining market share of Windows phones.