The wildly popular life simulator from Maxis and EA will be free to play eight years after its first release.
EA announced today that the base Sims 4 game will be free to download and play on all platforms beginning next month. It also announced an upcoming livestream in which Maxis will discuss its plans for future updates to the game.
The Sims 4 is the most recent installment in the long-running and enormously popular life simulation franchise. It, like previous games in the series, allows players to create their own characters and homes, then watch these digital people live out full lives, helping them find jobs, friendship, or even trapping them all in pools to slowly die. It's entertaining. The Sims 4 may be the "newest" game in the series, but it is not in its infancy. It was first released in September of 2014, eight years ago. Since then, EA has released over 50 pieces of paid DLC for the game, including large expansions and smaller items such as kit packs.
High School Years, the most recent expansion, was released in July of this year. It was well received after EA, uh...removed all the bugs that caused incestuous relationships. To be clear, none of this DLC or expansion content will be made available for free to everyone. However, the original Sims 4 game, which was released nearly a decade ago, will be completely free to download and play beginning October 18, 2022. And this isn't just on PC. Sims 4 will be available for free on PC, Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and Mac through EA's Origin store.
"Our community has continued to inspire us with the billions of unique Sims they've created, the countless stories they've told, and the remarkable builds they've designed," EA said in a statement. "We're excited to continue to welcome more players than ever before in order to create new stories and explore without limits." The Sims has always been about celebrating new ways to play and provides a plethora of opportunities to explore."
EA has announced that current Sims 4 owners will receive the new Desert Luxe kit for free if they log in to the game before October 17.
Maxis appears to have big plans for The Sims 4, saying it will continue to update the game and add new content for the "foreseeable future." And we'll find out more about The Sims 4's future soon, as EA announced today that it will host a special livestream—the Behind The Sims Summit—on October 18.
