SimCity is a game were you build a city. That's not all there is to it, but that's the basic premise for it. BUT! You're not here for SimCity, you're here for the Sims franchise history!
The cunt who started it all was Will Wright, who independently developed SimCity and was the co-founder of the company that would be where the Sims franchise started - Maxis (also known for Spore!).
We start this section off whimsically - when Will Wright lost his house in the Oakland Firestorm of, well, 1991, he was inspired to make a "virtual dollhouse" while beginning to rebuild his life. When he initially took this idea to Maxis, they gave little support or financing as they were skeptical of his idea. However, when EA bought Maxis in 1997, they were much more supportive, especially because of SimCity's success.