Sims is awesome! I'm surprised if some people are seriously saying that Sims wouldn't be a real game. I've heard it more when people talk about Candy Crush etc. but even regarding games like that, people seem to have accepted them as games.
But maybe I don't hang around with gamers enough, as I wouldn't be surprised that there's a lot of gatekeeping what's "real gaming" and which ones are accepted as "real games". People tend to be dumbasses for no reason, just to make them feel better and more "real".
I think one of the more significant comments I saw out there was with a Game Stop employee getting heavily upvoted on a Reddit AMA.
But it's definitely a common sentiment since some people mock the Sims for being a "not a game" patch notes while enjoying a broken game like Fallout 76. Both are still games regardless. I thoroughly enjoy Oblivion and it's also a mess.