EA’s The Sims Studio is looking to lure traditional gamers to the next installment in the franchise, The Sims 3, with more ‘goal-orientated’ gameplay.

Speaking exclusively to MCV, the division’s creative director Rod Humble also revealed that his MMO background would help the franchise move away from its simulation past.

“I think there is a lot more ‘gamer-ness’ in The Sims 3,” said Humble. “The team has added a lot more challenge and depth for gamers.

“I have become obsessed with book collecting with my sims, and you can do things like fishing and gardening: there’s a lot more of that goal-orientated gameplay. I also think that the flexibility of the new Sims character system is a massive deal.

“I brought a mandate to the project, which was: ‘No more hamster cage.’ In The Sims 2, the Sims were referred to as hamsters with jobs. I always thought that was incredibly limiting and we needed an open world.

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“You’re not going to get where this game can go unless you can walk across the street and see the neighbour’s kids playing in the opposite yard, or you can buy a house at the top of a mountain and look down on a town.”

Humble was speaking as part of MCV’s Franchise Focus on The Sims, which you can see here.