It’s almost hard to believe, but EA’s monumentally popular “life” simulator series The Sims has just turned 10.

The original Sims title hit shelves on February 4 2000. Through three core games, multiple expansion packs for the aforementioned core games and more than 125 million unit sales worldwide, The Sims series has proved itself one of gaming’s most wide-reaching franchises.

“No other game in the history of electronic entertainment has ever had the broad, nearly universal appeal of The Sims franchise,” said Logan Decker, Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer magazine. “Everybody plays it: hardcore gamers, young women, celebrities, conservatives, professors, soldiers, grandmothers, even people who say they don’t like computer games. And the game—or, rather, the experience—has thrived throughout 10 years of sequels and countless expansion packs because EA has kept the environment fresh and infinitely customizable while never getting in the way of the game’s primary focus—the player’s imagination, and the natural inclination of all human beings to create meaningful stories.”

The games have been sold in 60 countries, translated into 22 languages and have generated in excess of $2.5 billion. This puts the franchise in the same league as some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including the recent smash hit Avatar.