As a gaming franchise, EA’s The Sims has been around for over 20 years. While this is an impressive feat on its own, its latest iteration of the series, The Sims 4, will turn 7 this year. Previous installments have lasted anywhere from 4 to 5 years, so The Sims 4 has clearly tapped into something that’s allowed it to last for almost twice as long as its predecessors.
With this in mind, it’ll be exciting to see what The Sims team has in store for The Sims 4 in 2021. Though almost all of it is speculation, players of the iconic franchise are sure to see some additional features added to the game via DLC or free base game updates.
Due to its longevity, it’s no surprise that The Sims 4 already has a plethora of DLC. Last year alone saw the release of two expansion packs, two stuff packs, and a Sims game pack. Though not all of them were well-received, The Sims may still have more content up its sleeve to help with this. In fact, Simmers can expect an announcement about the theme of the new stuff pack on January 12.
This timeline makes sense, as last year’s first stuff pack, Tiny Living, was announced at a similar point in the month. Given the clues that The Sims’ social media has dropped, along with a GIF of a Sim surrounded by floating green orbs, players are expecting this stuff pack to be titled Happy Haunts (or something similar) based on the survey sent out last year to determine what the community-voted stuff pack would be themed. Nifty Knitting won, but the community reacted positively to another supernaturally themed pack.
Beyond the fact that the floating orbs in the GIF look similar to ghosts, the post specifically mentions the word “reveal”—an obvious nod to how ghosts choose to show themselves or not. The proposed Happy Haunts pack would have featured new freelancer careers for ghost hunting, becoming a psychic, or even becoming a grim reaper. If “all will be revealed” on January 12, it’s not too far-fetched to think the upcoming stuff pack is the cut content from Happy Haunts.
There’s no indication that this stuff pack will be the last DLC released for The Sims 4, either. It’s been confirmed that the developer has content planned for The Sims 4 through 2021, though it’s unclear just how much content is planned for this year. The Sims 4 currently has 10 expansion packs, 9 game packs, and 17 (going on 18) stuff packs—that’s a lot of DLC for one base game and certainly the most DLC released for one Sims series. With a game this successful, it’s possible there are no plans to slow down its expansion.
On the other hand, all good things must come to an end, unfortunately, and one of those things may be the reign of The Sims 4. Going on 7 years is an incredible timeline, especially for a Sims game, but the fact may be that the game is just a bit old now. It doesn’t feel that way thanks to the numerous base game updates and additions that have been given to players throughout the years, but players have been vocal online about how the game doesn’t run as smoothly as it used to. Plus, sometimes the release of new packs ends up “breaking” another part of the game. This would be fine if there were patches that addressed the issues, but more often than not, there is no acknowledgement that something is amiss.
In a similar vein as to what happened with The Sims 3, The Sims 4 is slowing down for players—even those with high-end PCs. This was bound to happen given the amount of DLC released for the game, but it’s still disheartening for players to experience. Besides slowing down, many players still critique the base game alone because it lacks gameplay that other titles, like The Sims 2 or The Sims 3, had at launch. It almost feels like the various packs that are available are required for in-depth gameplay rather than being optional additions to the base game.
The Sims 4 was revolutionary at the time of its announcement and took a unique turn, opting for a more cartoonish style rather than realistic. Both Build/Buy and Create-a-Sim modes have been the most advanced yet for the series, which is something many players don’t take for granted. However, 2021 may be the perfect time to announce The Sims 5 and build upon these improvements that have already been added to the series, and potentially add back some features that players have been vocal about missing.
It’s not news to players that there is an update to the base game before every pack release. This is to ensure the pack’s additional content installs correctly and runs smoothly, but sometimes The Sims team will add in other free content for players to enjoy. In the past, this has included things like Caribbean-inspired fashion and furniture, or a Hispanic heritage update to celebrate Hispanic culture with new clothing or Build/Buy mode objects.
At the very least, players can expect an update to the game prior to the release of the aforementioned new stuff pack. It wouldn’t be completely unexpected for this update to have some new content for players as well, though it won’t be nearly as expansive as the new stuff pack.
Overall, it seems The Sims 4 is still going strong with planned DLC and base game updates, but it wouldn’t be shocking if an announcement for The Sims 5 came out within the year as well. The Sims 4: Snowy Escape was a win and showed that it can actually implement fan feedback and create a well-rounded expansion—if that same energy is brought to The Sims in 2021, the sky will be the limit for this simulation franchise
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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