Maybe Kayla Sims (@lilsimsie) was destined to play The Sims, Digital Arts’ hit life simulation franchise. Sure, that is her actual identify. However when she uploaded her very first YouTube video in 2015, a playthrough of The Sims 4’s Get Collectively enlargement, she in all probability by no means anticipated the sport to alter her life the best way it did.
Sims, now 27, presently counts over 2.2 million YouTube subscribers and greater than 954,000 followers on her fundamental Twitch channel, the place she streams Monday via Saturday. She sometimes performs different cozy video games, however TS4 is her bread and butter.
As one of many largest “Simmers” within the biz, Sims’ affect will be felt within the recreation’s very code. Since 2020, she’s teamed up with EA on two expansions and a “Comfortable Gamer” pack. Some in-game objects are literally named after her or her characters, together with the long-lasting Cowplants. She’s additionally the mastermind behind a number of well-liked participant challenges.
Lots of Sims’ followers have grown up along with her. They tune in not only for her useful tutorials and artistic builds, but in addition for her refreshingly healthful vibes. “I really like how optimistic and real she is, and I respect what she stands for,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
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Sims hasn’t shied away from talking up about points that matter to her. She’s run an annual charity stream for St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital since 2020, elevating over $1 million for the trigger in 2025, and once more in Might 2026, she stated on YouTube. Separate fundraisers she’s organized have raised lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} for the Nationwide Immigration Legislation Heart, the Trans Lifeline, and the Palestine Kids’s Reduction Fund.
In late 2025, Sims introduced that she was leaving the EA Creator Community after EA was acquired by Saudi traders. “The values represented by the folks buying EA are basically at odds with what I stand for and help,” Sims wrote on the time. Extra not too long ago, she’s rallied different gamers to signal a petition calling to dam the deal.
Sims is not performed enjoying TS4, however she’s began to publish extra unrelated content material on YouTube — a transfer that viewers have embraced. “I observe the creator, not the content material,” stated one commenter. Sims’ integrity has earned her the sort of neighborhood that Simoleons cannot purchase.
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Replace: This story was up to date to replicate Sims reporting on YouTube that she raised $1 million for St. Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital once more in 2026.
