| The Sims 2: Open for Business | |
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| Developer(s) | Maxis |
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| Release | Windows
September 4, 2006 |
The Sims 2: Open for Business is an expansion pack for the 2004 life simulation video game The Sims 2, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It was released 2 March 2006 as the third expansion pack for the game. Open for Business adds tycoon elements to the base game, allowing sims to run businesses from their homes or community lots. Multiple new advancement systems are added, such as talent badges, which track sims' progress in business skills; business ranks, which measure a business's success based on its company loyalty; and business perks, gifts or skills granted to a sim for running a successful business. The expansion pack also expands upon elements introduced by previous expansions, such as restaurants and romantic chemistry, and expands the base game's building options.
The original design vision for Open for Business was to expand the range of creative or productive options available in the base game, which evolved over time into a tycoon-style game. Open for Business was a commercial success, becoming the third highest-selling PC game of 2006. Critical opinion was generally positive, exploring the expansion's significant gameplay divergence from the more domestic life simulator goals of The Sims 2. Reviewers praised its intricacy and the greater control it gave players over non-playable sims, but were divided over its accessibility and how enjoyable the process of running a business was. Since its release, Open for Business has been used as a pedagogical tool for business students and teaching mathematics.