EA Kills EA Land, The Sims Online

Just two months ago, EA Land was announced to be the new home of struggling MMO The Sims Online. The good part of that news was that TSO would now be free, hosted at EA Land and was promised to have a host of new features, including user created custom content, web services and social networking tools.

Today, the EA Land blog revealed that it would be shutting down on August 1, ending The Sims Online forever.

The whys weren't given, but speculation from commenters and CNet is that EA wanted to kill The Sims Online without having to kill "The Sims Online." The closure of EA Land—who again?—is far more palatable, brand-wise. Details on outstanding subscriptions can be found at the official EA Land blog.

EA-Land Drawing To A Close [EA Land]
'EA Land' closing just weeks after debut [CNet - thanks DaveKap!]

The Sims Online Goes Free With EA Land

While The Sims series has been nothing short of a mega-blockbuster hit for Maxis and publisher EA—well over 70 million(!) copies and expansions have gone out the door—The Sims Online didn't exactly win over the hordes of people who like living fake lives offline. The game stagnated just 11 months after its release, received no new updates and largely faded into obscurity.

But EA is bringing it back. Free.

EA Land will now host the original The Sims Online content, bringing a slew of new features to the massively multiplayer online game. The team at Maxis is now allowing user created custom content, ushering in a new economy, and adding new web services and social networking tools. New Facebook apps and widgets are now available for anyone who wants to have their real life more depressingly connected to their Sim life.

You can read about all the new changes (in Comic Sans!) at the official site or read further for official word from the dev team.

What is EA-Land? [EA Land]