The Sims: Livin' Large (released in Europe as The Sims: Livin' It Up) is a 2000 expansion to The Sims developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The first of several expansions to The Sims, Livin' Large introduces several new objects and architecture features, new characters and careers. The expansion was designed with a more humorous and unusual tone to broaden the creative direction and scenarios in the game. Upon release, Livin' Large received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed to the unique and unusual range of interactive objects, and criticism to the expansion's largely cosmetic approach. In 2002, Livin' Large was combined with the original game and packaged by Electronic Arts with additional bonus content as The Sims Deluxe Edition.
Gameplay
thumb|left|Livin' Large introduces a number of new decorative and interactive objects to The Sims.
Primarily a content-based expansion, Livin' Large adds 125 new items for Sims to purchase in the 'Buy Mode' of the game. Some items are decorative, and others are interactive. The "Vibromatic Heart Bed" allows players to engage their Sims in intimate relationships for the first time in the series, with a male and female Sim in love able to "Vibrate" the bed and then "Play" in it. Doing so will provide a chance that the female Sim will become pregnant with a baby.
Development and release
The design objective of Livin' Large was to introduce new elements to the game that created gameplay and stories that "further engaged the imagination of the player". Lead designer Will Wright stated that the expansion focused on a "novel humour" and "wacky style" in contrast with the "neutral" tone of the original game in order to help "spark the creativity of players" and "take the game into weird, twisted directions". Wright took a reduced role in the design of the expansion to focus on The Sims Online, with codesigner Chris Trottier having a stronger responsibility for the implementation of the game, although the Tragic Clown was Wright's "pet object" for suggested inclusion in the expansion. Electronic Arts engaged studio New Pencil Incorporated to create new assets for Livin' Large and future expansions. Development of the expansion was streamlined by using asset libraries to introduce sets of objects and architecture with a similar "look and feel", such as the set of castle-themed items. Some skins were created as user-made modifications and selected by designers for inclusion in the game. In 2002, EA released The Sims Deluxe, a combination of The Sims and Livin' Large, with additional clothing options and The Sims Creator tool.
Reception
Sales
Domestically, Livin' Large sold 263,076 units and earned $6.99 million by the end of October 2000, according to PC Data. By the end of the year, its sales totaled 595,410 units ($16.1 million) in the United States alone. This made it the country's sixth-best-selling computer game of 2000. Livin' Large remained the United States' sixth-highest computer game seller in 2001, with domestic sales of 818,600 units and revenues of $22.9 million that year.
Reviews
The Sims: Livin' Large received "generally favorable" reviews from critics according to review aggregator Metacritic.
Many reviewers noted the additions of Livin' Large were mostly cosmetic aspects of the expansion and did not fundamentally alter the core mechanics of gameplay,