If you're over a certain age, you'll remember when The Sims was first released 20 years ago on Friday (31 January). Cast your mind back and you'll recall the hours you spent creating your perfect house and a load of characters.

There were two kinds of people when it came to The Sims - the ones who played like they were in real life, making their character as close to themselves as possible, and the ones who made everything extremely weird.

Firing up the dial-up connection, you'd sit down at your massive computer and start deciding how you could waste a few hours that day.

If you'd missed it for even a few days because you were tending to your Tamagotchi, you'd return to your virtual house and discover an absolute s***storm - your kitchen was on fire and your kids hadn't eaten.

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Everything could go wrong in the shortest amount of time. Credit: EA

Then you'd put in a cheat code and change your marriage or career and you'd be totally laughing - not realising how you would long for real life cheat codes in the next 15 years.

The franchise has never really gone away, and it's now made more than $5 billion (£3.8bn).

By October last year, The Sims 4 alone had increased its number of users by 40 percent year-on-year, and the game had grown by 35 percent during the 2019 fiscal year.

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The Sims 4. Credit: EA

EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced the news during the company's recent earnings call, saying: "The Sims 4 also continues to be an incredible long-term live service with a growing audience. Monthly average players were up more than 40 percent year-over-year in The Sims 4, and engagement across the franchise has led The Sims to surpass $5 billion in lifetime sales.

"The Sims continues to be one of the great franchises in gaming and we have plans to bring new experiences to its amazing plays for a long time to come."

EA sees no signs of it slowing down, either. With constant updates and new releases, including additions like Baby Yoda, the game is kept relevant and up-to-date.

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Any excuse for a picture of this little guy. Credit: EA