An Angry “Letter” to EA Games

Dear EA Games,
At the end of March, I installed a series of updates to the EXTREMELY addictive Sims Freeplay. Unfortunately, the last update rendered the game unplayable, and it crashes upon startup. Now, I understand that The Sims Freeplay is TECHNICALLY a free game, but since I’ve spent money on in-app purchases of simoleons and life points, I don’t classify it as a wholly “free” game and expect your organization to provide support for it like any of your other “paid for” applications.

Obviously, you disagree with this. I cannot find support for the game on your website, nor can I even find acknowledgement that there is an issue with the application. Angry feedback ratings in the marketplace seem to be the primary way for your user base to communicate problems to you. The only “update” that I’ve found is via a third party support site linked off of the application’s Facebook page. In response to queries concerning the Windows Phone 8 crashes, Firemonkeys writes:

“We are aware that a number of players have been experiencing crashing issues in The Sims FreePlay with the latest update on the Windows Phone platform. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of this issue.

The Windows Phone 8 development team are currently working to investigate the issue further.

Please note that the Firemonkeys team are not the developers of this platform, so we may not be able to assist you with issues on these devices. We look forward to assisting you in any way we can. Thank you for your patience.”

Weeks later and that is the BEST that EA can offer in the way of an explanation or acknowledgement of the problem? I’ve spent a good deal of time AND money on this game, but will take care to NEVER use an in-app purchase option for any of your “free” games. Seeing how you’ve handled this issue stops me from purchasing other EA games for the Windows phone platform (and I’m a big fan of Mass Effect and Need for Speed).

Time is of the essence! MY SIMS ARE DYING (likely DEAD already)! If anything is going to kill them, I prefer it be by my own hand, not EA’s ineptitude. RIP my little Simlets.

Sincerely,
ITGirl

P.S. More heat.