The best-selling PC game franchise of all time has just got a bit more best-selling–EA today announced The Sims series has now sold 100 million copies worldwide.

The first Sims game was the brainchild of veteran game developer Will Wright, and was released on Electronic Arts’ Maxis label in 2000. An unprecedented number of expansion packs followed, and this trend continued following the launch of The Sims 2 in 2004. The Sims 3 was recently confirmed, which will allow sims to wander around their neighbourhoods freely for the first time, and is expected sometime in 2009.

Since the first game, the franchise has been translated into 22 different languages, and sold in 60 countries around the world.

The virtual-life sim allows players to customise a sim or group of sims and direct their day-to-day lives, including building and decorating their houses, choosing their career paths, and managing their relationships with others. The Sims 2 Web site has over 4.3 million unique visitors a month, who have downloaded more than 70 million user-created items, including furniture, outfits, and sims themselves. The game has also, perhaps unsurprisingly, been a hit on YouTube, where gamers have posted some 100,000 movies showing their sims.

According to EA, “If 100 million boxes of The Sims were lined up end-to-end, they would stretch from New York city to Moscow. And, with 100 million sold, one out of seven homes in Europe and one out of three homes in America would have a product of The Sims franchise.”

Those who wish to celebrate The Sims success with EA can download a free outfit for their sims on April 16 at the official Web site. Apparently, it will be “the perfect outfit for your sims to enjoy a night of celebration.”