Kayla Sims

Last updated

Kayla Sims
Personal information
Born
Kayla Marie Sims

(1999-08-14) August 14, 1999 (age 25)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education University of Central Florida
Occupations
  • YouTuber
  • Twitch streamer
Spouse
Dan Grenander
​
(m. 2021)​
Website lilsimsieshop.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Genre Gaming
Subscribers2.15 million [1]
Views1,02 billion [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2018
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2020
Twitch information
Channel
Years active2015–present
GameThe Sims 4
Followers920 thousand
Last updated: June 17, 2025

Kayla Marie Sims (born August 14, 1999), also known by her YouTube handle lilsimsie, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Sims is best known for playing The Sims 4 , her collaborations with EA on projects such as The Sims 4: Snowy Escape and The Sims 4: Growing Together , and her charity work for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Contents

Career

YouTube

Sims started making YouTube videos about The Sims in 2015. [2] Sims' most popular YouTube video, "Building in The Sims but Each Room is a Different Budget" has over 4 million views. [3] As of May 2024, Sims has two million subscribers. [4]

Sims is the creator of the Wolf Pack Challenge, which uses The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs expansion pack, [5] the Not So Berry Challenge, created with her friend Zoë (alwaysimming), [6] and the Verry Veggie Legacy challenge. [7] In 2019, for her "Simsie Save", in which Sims renovates the game's worlds and characters, Sims made all toilets in her save gender-neutral. [8] [9] One of Sims' longest running YouTube series was the "100 Baby Challenge" series, in which she completed the 100 Baby Challenge in The Sims 4 over the course of five years. [10]

In a July 2020 patch to The Sims 4, all cowplants in the game were given the default name "Little Simzee" as a nod to Sims' campaign for the ability to name cowplants in game. [11] Part of this campaign included getting the #justiceforcowplants trending on the Sims gallery via a "shell" building challenge. [12] In August 2020, Sims joined other Sims YouTubers in speaking out against the lack of diversity in skin tones in The Sims 4. [13] The item All-In-One Gemology Table By Humphrey, Inc. in The Sims 4: Crystal Creations , released in February 2024, is named after Sims' rags-to-riches testplay sim Stanley Humphrey. [14]

Sims was a judge on YouTube's gaming creator competition show, uTure. [15] [16] The show ended August 13, 2022. [17]

Twitch

Sims has a Twitch channel with 906,000 followers, and usually streamed six days per week. [18] [19] In 2018, Sims was nominated for Streamer of the Year at Summer in the City for her streaming on Twitch. [20] In January 2021, an illustration of her cat was made the PogChamp emote on Twitch for a day. [21]

Sims, as part of the team Sandy's Candies with streamers brandiganBTW, Fuzzireno, and TheHaboo, won the first Stardew Valley Cup in September 2021. [22]

In May 2022, Sims revisited the subject of her most popular video, leaving her Sims 4 game unpaused all night, but this time on her Twitch stream instead of in a YouTube video. [23]

Charity streams

In May 2020, Sims organized her first charity stream for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In May 2021, Sims participated in the St. Jude Play Live event, this time streaming every day for the entire month of May, and raised $369,000 for St. Jude, bringing her total amount raised for that charity to over $500,000. [24] Sims raised another $516,000 in 2023 and $610,000 in 2024 during Play Live. [25] For her sixth fundraiser for St. Jude, Sims raised over $1,000,000 for the hospital. [26] As of June 2025, Sims has raised over $3,000,000 for St. Jude Children's Hospital through her annual month-long charity Twitch streams. [27]

Sims used to be a supporter of AbleGamers, a charity dedicated to making games accessible to disabled children, and has raised money for them on multiple campaigns since 2020. In August 2021, Sims raised over $100,000 for AbleGamers to help Steven Spohn reach his birthday fundraising goal of $1,000,000. [28] Sims distanced herself from the organization after accusations of abuse, misogyny and mismanaging of funds at AbleGamers came to light in an article published in May 2025 on IGN. [29]

In June 2021, Sims raised $15,000 for the Transgender Law Center during a charity stream. [18] In March 2024, Sims raised another $37,000 for Advocates for Trans Equality. [30] Following the political developments of the second Trump administration and its effects on transgender lives in early 2025, Sims raised over $30,000 for Trans Lifeline. [31]

On January 22, 2024, Sims raised money for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund through her Twitch account. She raised $52,000 in one day. [32]

Other charities Sims has raised money for on Twitch through Tiltify campaigns are The American Cancer Society, Direct Relief following Hurricane Irma, Color of Change, Feeding America, Stop AAPI Hate, Hope for Haiti, Comic Relief (Kids Relief) for Red Nose Day 2022 and the American Heart Association.

As of June 2025, Sims has raised $3,925,000 for charity through Tiltify. [33]

Other work

In October 2020, Sims announced her collaboration with The Sims 4: Snowy Escape expansion pack, creating three lots for the game: 6–4–1 Hanamigawa, 5–6–1 Shinrinyoku, and 2–5–1 Wakabamori. [34] [35] In January 2023, Sims announced her collaboration with The Sims 4: Growing Together expansion pack, creating three lots for the game: Celebration Center, Sequoia Cottage, and 13 Acacia Avenue. [36] She collaborated with the franchise again with The Sims 4: Comfy Gamer kit, released in 2025. [37]

Sims also created content for TikTok. In January 2022, a TikTok she made explaining first-person mode in the Sims 4 and featuring a sim making a grilled cheese was removed for "nudity and sexual activity." The TikTok was subsequently restored and has over 500,000 views. [38]

Personal life

Sims lived in Chicago until her family moved to Florida when she was 4. [39] She began playing The Sims when she was 12 [3] and became particularly interested in the game after her father was diagnosed with cancer when she was 14. [40] Sims has attributed the game with helping her cope with her father's diagnosis, using it as an “escape”. [3] Sims graduated from the University of Central Florida in May 2020 with a bachelor's degree in history. [41] [42]

Sims married fellow streamer Dan Grenander on August 25, 2021 in a small courthouse wedding. [43] The couple later hosted a wedding ceremony on February 2, 2025. [44] Previously, Grenander had moved to the United States to live with her in July 2021 on a K-1 fiancé visa, after living in the United Kingdom. They applied for the visa in February 2020. [45] Grenander streams on Twitch under the name “duckdan” and uploads to his associated YouTube channel under the same name. Grenander often plays games such as Dead by Daylight , Fall Guys and Minecraft . [46] They often play games together, such as Mario Kart , Among Us and Fall Guys . They live in Oviedo, Florida. [47]

References

  1. 1 2 "About lilsimsie". YouTube.
  2. ↑ Bonfiglio, Nahila (January 13, 2019). "YouTuber makes 'The Sims 4' bathrooms gender neutral, and fans are in love". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Building in The Sims but Each Room is a Different Budget, September 19, 2020, retrieved July 5, 2023
  4. ↑ "Lilsimsie's YouTube Stats and Insights". vidIQ. May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2024.
  5. ↑ White, Jeanette (July 21, 2020). "The Sims 4: Five challenges to spice up the gameplay". Game Freaks 365. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  6. ↑ Mills, Kiera (July 29, 2022). "Sims 4 Not So Berry Challenge". GGRecon. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  7. ↑ ""STARTING THE VERY VEGGIE LEGACY CHALLENGE!"". Twitch.
  8. ↑ Lee, Jess (January 8, 2019). "The Sims player praised for making toilets gender neutral in new save". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  9. ↑ Jackson, Gita (January 7, 2019). "Sims YouTuber Makes All The Game's Bathrooms Gender Neutral". Kotaku. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  10. ↑ Jackson, Gita (September 14, 2020). "It Took This YouTuber Five Years to Have 100 Babies In 'The Sims 4'". Vice.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ Wozniak, Paul (July 27, 2020). "Sims 4 Devs Listened to Fan's Request to Enable Us Name Our Cow Plants". Gamepressure.com. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  12. ↑ lilsimsie (July 24, 2020). "THEY PUT *ME* IN THE SIMS 4" . Retrieved July 31, 2020– via YouTube.
  13. ↑ Ashcroft, Helen (August 12, 2020). "It Took Sims 4 Players Of All Races To Get A Promise Of Skintone Diversity – This In Itself Is A Problem". TheGamer. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  14. ↑ lilsimsie (March 1, 2024). "i tried getting rich from just *crystals* in the sims" . Retrieved June 1, 2025– via YouTube.
  15. ↑ Spangler, Todd (April 9, 2022). "YouTube Launches $100,000-Prize Global Competition Show to Find Next Big Gaming Creator, Hosted by Ali-A". ca.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  16. ↑ Blake, Vikki (April 9, 2022). "New YouTube show wants to discover "the next big gaming content creator"". Games Radar. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  17. ↑ Who's WON $100,000?! - uTure Show FINAL!, August 13, 2022, retrieved February 8, 2024
  18. 1 2 Nightingale, Ed (June 29, 2021). "Twitch streamer lilsimsie raises $15,000 for Transgender Law Center". Pink News. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  19. ↑ lilsimsie – Twitch , retrieved June 4, 2022
  20. ↑ Beveridge, Marta (August 12, 2018). "Summer in the City Awards 2018 Round-Up". Ten Eighty Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  21. ↑ Hao, Dexter Tan Guan (February 13, 2021). "Every PogChamp in 2021". Dot Esports.
  22. ↑ Michael, Cale (September 5, 2021). "Who won the Stardew Valley Cup: Results, Final Standings, Scores". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  23. ↑ Morton, Lauren (May 19, 2022). "The latest sadistic Sims challenge: survive 24 hours unsupervised in a haunted house". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  24. ↑ Alvarez, Daniel (June 3, 2021). "Content creators raised $4 million during the St. Jude Play Live event on Twitch". Game Freaks 365. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Previous Campaigns". Tiltify. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Simsie Squad for St. Jude PLAY LIVE 2025". Tiltify. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  27. ↑ "Lifetime raised St. Jude". plk.experience.stjude.org. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  28. ↑ "How a Disabled Gamers Initiative Was Able to Raise $1 Million". August 19, 2021.
  29. ↑ Stoner, Grant (May 13, 2025). "Former Employees, Community Members Allege AbleGamers Founder Fostered Abuse Behind Closed Doors". IGN.com. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  30. ↑ moresimsie (April 5, 2024). "TRANS PRIDE CHARITY STREAM! (Streamed 3/30/24)". YouTube. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  31. ↑ moresimsie (March 31, 2025). "WHEEL DECIDES MY SIMS BUILD (Charity Stream) 🩵🤍🩷 (Streamed 3/29/25)". YouTube. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  32. ↑ "we raised $52,000 on stream today for the palestine children's relief fund. thanks for helping me do this. together we do so much good". January 22, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  33. ↑ "lilsimsie on Tiltify". Tiltify. Retrieved June 1, 2025.
  34. ↑ Mercante, Alyssa (October 28, 2020). "The Sims 4 Snowy Escape finally gives Simmers what they want with in-depth behavior changes and an intricate new world". Games Radar. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  35. ↑ Muller, Antoinette (November 29, 2020). "Sims 4 Snowy Escape: Which EA Game Changers built which lots". Extratime Media. Archived from the original on March 6, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  36. ↑ Sims, Kayla (March 13, 2023). I got to build official lots for The Sims 4: Growing Together . Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  37. ↑ Geikhman, Yuliya (January 17, 2025). "Sims 4 Just Got 3 New Kits, Including 2 Perfect Choices If You Love Bella Goth & Don Lothario". ScreenRant. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
  38. ↑ Scotti, Lawrence (January 28, 2022). "TikTok removes The Sims 4 video of grilled cheese for "nudity"". Dexerto. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  39. ↑ Kayla Sims (November 25, 2023). building a christmas tree farm in the sims (YouTube video). lilsimsie. Event occurs at 24:57-. Retrieved November 25, 2023– via YouTube. I've never had a real Christmas tree. I guess we did when I was like really little and still in Chicago. But since moving to Florida when I was four, we have not had a real one.
  40. ↑ Kumar, Ruma. "How a virtual world helped streamer lilsimsie deal with cancer in real life". www.stjude.org. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  41. ↑ lilsimsie (April 27, 2020). My graduation was cancelled so I did it in The Sims instead . Retrieved July 8, 2024– via YouTube.
  42. ↑ lilsimsie (January 18, 2024). an honest review of the sims 4's fan voted kits . Retrieved July 8, 2024– via YouTube.
  43. ↑ lilsimsie (November 21, 2021). "we got married". YouTube. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  44. ↑ "our wedding", YouTube
  45. ↑ so... i am engaged, April 2, 2021, retrieved April 2, 2021
  46. ↑ duckdan Videos – Twitch , retrieved June 4, 2022
  47. ↑ Richardson, Nikita (February 7, 2022). "How The Sims Became the Internet's Most Exciting Place to Eat" . The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 27, 2025. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
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