The Sims 4turned 10 years old back in September, and despite a decade of support, the game still comes with some serious headaches. One might expect a game that’s been around for so long to have most of the issues ironed out. However, there seem to consistently beSimsplayers deciding togo back toThe Sims 3or else hold out hope foraSims 5releasethat seems unlikelyto happen at this point.
Of course, it probably doesn’t help that the original Maxis teams lost many of their members and had all its original studios closed shortly after the launch ofThe Sims 4. With the game more firmly in the hands of Maxis’s parent company, EA, it’s not that surprising thatThe Sims 4has some serious issues. While there is still a strongSims 4fan community that helps prop up the game, it’s hard to ignore these issues that have persisted for the last 10 years.
10The Sims 4 Has Too Many Expansions For New Players
The Sims 4 Has 76 DLC Packs
If The Sims franchise is famous for one thing, it’s removing the ladder from the pool to reuse a perfectly furnished house with a new crop of Sims. If it’s famous for a second thing, it’s releasing increasingly bare-bones base games and thendrip-feeding game content that was standard in previous entriesacross multiple paid expansions. This can be even more frustrating for players who are hopping intoThe Sims 4in 2024.
The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack Review: So Good It’s Scary
The Sims 4 Life & Death is one of the most impressive DLC releases in years, with a gorgeous world, great active career, a new occult, and much more.
It’s not uncommon for potential players to watch YouTubers or Twitch streamers play games before deciding to opt in themselves. This makes a lot of sense, as it’s a good way to preview a game without having to pay for it. However, someone watching a YouTuber with a fully expanded version ofThe Sims 4may be shocked to boot the game up and seehow little content the base gamehas in comparison.
9The Sims 4 Still Hasn’t Added Features From Previous Games
The Sims 4 Is Missing Features From The Sims 3, 2, and 1
It’s’ frustrating enough thatThe Sims 4stripped away some of thefunctions fromThe Sims 3, and evenThe Sims 2, only to sell these features back to players in the form of expansion packs. What’s even more bothersome is the fact that some features from previousSimsgames still haven’t materialized inThe Sims 4. Whether it’s popular services, likeThe Sims 2’s Matchmaker, or customizable options, like assigning a Sim’s zodiac sign,The Sims 4’s lack of these features can be frustratingfor long-time fans.
Games in a series don’t necessarily have to carry over every aspectof previous entries. However, one would expect them to at least keep in the parts of the game that players love. Things like Sim zodiac signs have beenmodded intoThe Sims 4by players who felt their absence and wanted them in the game. One would think that, with so many expansions, at least one would address some of the most popular missing features.
8Switching Menus In The Sims 4 Takes Forever
There Are Loading Screens Between Most Menus
In the time sinceThe Sims 4’s release in 2014,loading screens have become increasingly rarein games. Now that players are accustomed to exploring massive areas likeCyberpunk 2077’s Night City orFinal Fantasy 7’s Gaia with only a few, short loading screens,long load times are seen as an antiquated part of a game. By comparison, playingThe Sims 4can be pretty frustrating.
Switching between households requires a loading screen, having Sims visit another lot requires a loading screen, and traveling to a lot in a different neighborhood takes several. Even just flipping between build mode and play mode inside a lot can cause a bit of delay sometimes. While these loading screens aren’t always very long,their combined time can start to add up during long playsessions. What makes it feel even more outdated is thatSims 3already had a more seamless way to travel between lots in the same neighborhood.
7There’s No Way To Play The Sims 4 Without The EA App
The Sims 4 Only Launches Through EA’s Internal App
Not all the frustrations surroundingThe Sims 4have to do with the gameplay experience. One frustrating issue isthe need to run the game through the EA appwhen playing on PC. Even if players downloadThe Sims 4through another platform like Steam, they are still required to also install the EA app to actually run it. Like switching between menus in-game, this means the process of starting the game up can also be somewhat tedious.
The EA app isn’t just another program that players need to have running, it also requires a login with a username and password to play any games through it. This means players who have downloadedThe Sims 4through Steam will have to log into both Steam and the EA app to play. Again, this isn’t the biggest inconvenience, but it’s still an annoying extra step to take.
6The Same Bugs Keep Popping Up (& Some Are Really Creepy)
The Sims 4 Has Experienced Many Game-Breaking Bugs In 10 Years
Bugs in video games can range from mild annoyances to game-breaking issues, andThe Sims 4has been known to have bugs that run that entire gamut. Early on in the game’s lifespan, Sims wouldn’t be able to call the fire department, resulting in unwanted deaths. Other times, clicking the play button on the main menu could load an earlier save file, and exiting out will autosave over the more recent one. While some bugs have been fixed over the years, there are still some that remain a decade later, andeven some that pop up again after being “fixed.”
One such bug isa glitch where two family members will suddenly enter a romantic relationship. This shouldn’t happen inThe Sims 4(at least without mods) and certainly isn’t what players want happening without any input. Not only would one hope most of the bugs inThe Sims 4were ironed out after 10 years, but that any new ones would be a one-time issue. Unfortunately, this still doesn’t seem to be the case.
5New Content Is Prioritized Over Fixing Old Content
The Sims 4 Averages over 7 DLC Packs A Year
As of August 2024, there were71 DLC packs forThe Sims 4. Since then, there have been five new DLCs, including theLife & Death Expansion Pack, bringing the total up to 76. With theSims 4team working on what averages nearly eight new DLCs per year, it’s no wonder thatThe Sims 4has so many bugs. The team is way too busy cranking out new content for the game to address any issues with the older content.
There’s A Hidden Baldur’s Gate 3 Reference In The Sims 4 Life & Death DLC
The Sims 4’s latest expansion, Life and Death, adds a secret reference to an iconic scene from Baldur’s Gate 3 - but it’s not the first of its kind.
EA did introduce a team to specifically address core issues with the game… in 2024! That meansit took an entire decade of the game existing before these issues were the main focus of a specific team. This hopefully means that the issue of new content getting more focus than old content won’t be a problem anymore. Still, the fact that it took this long to start addressing such a major issue withThe Sims 4does bring into question how long it will take for this new team to work through existing issues.
4The Sims 4 Is Better With Mods (But Mods Break The Game)
Supplementing The Base Game With Custom Content
The Sims 4is a more enjoyable experience with mods, which isn’t a unique situation. It also isn’t as bad as something likeSkyrimwhich feels almost unplayable without mods. AlthoughThe Sims 4makes it relatively easy to add custom content to the game, doing so can still be a big pain. This is mainly because custom content hasa nasty habit of causing a host of new bugson top of the ones the game already has.
This dynamic creates a somewhat frustrating conundrum forSimsfans. Many members of the community enjoy watching online creators playThe Sims 4with fun custom content installed, and want to try it out for themselves. This can lead to them spending long periods picking out custom content online, only to load up the game and realize it has become unplayable. Players are forced to install mods one by one and test them if they want to ensure they won’t mess up the game.
3The Sims 4’s Lifecycle Is Much Longer Than Previous Games
Each Previous Sims Game Was Only Supported For Half As Long
The first three mainlineSimsgames had a lifespan of about five years before being replacedby a new game. While these replacements weren’t without their frustrations — players have lamented fully buying into a newSimsgame only for a new one to come out — it did offer a chance for the base game to get a major overhaul and improve on the previous iteration. Many would argueThe Sims 4failed to do this, but there’s no denying thatThe Sims 3was a major improvement over2.
The Sims 4’s lifespan being twice as long as the previous installments in the franchise has created an uncomfortable situation. Those who are unhappy withThe Sims 4have been waiting a long time for aSims 5that has yet to materialize (and might not). However, if EA does release a new version, then some players have sunk 10 years and up to $1200+ into a game that will no longer be supported. Either way,a subsection of the fanbase will be frustrated with the extended lifespan ofThe Sims 4.
2It Took 10 Years For The Sims 4 To Pay Back The Community
The Sims 4 Is Finally Compensating Community Creators
Over the past 10 years, independent creators have done a lot to keepThe Sims 4alive. Some players even consider the custom content made by these creators to be much better than the official content released forThe Sims 4. While it’s heartwarming to see creators so dedicated to a game they are fans of, it’s a little disappointing that EA didn’t step in earlier to offer them a path to compensation.
Recently,EA has started to do this through the release of Creator Kits. These are official DLC forThe Sims 4that EA is developing in collaboration with popularSims 4modders, and provided compensation for the work is a step in the right direction. Still, it’s disappointing that it took so long for EA to recognize how invaluable these creators were to the continued success of the game and pay them for their work.
1The Sims 4 Is Going To Prop Up An Entire Sims Universe
The Sims Universe Will Include Three New Games
In September 2024, it was announced thatThe Sims 4would not only continue to be the baseSimsgame for years to come, butthat it will also be part ofa wider connectedSimsUniverseof games. This includes the multiplayer game currently titledThe Sims Project Rene, theMySimscozy game spinoff, and a mobile game calledThe Sims Project Stories. Though full details haven’t been released, it was revealed that content would be shared across these games.
10 Essential Features Project Rene Needs To Include From The Sims Series
If EA and Maxis want to improve the Sims with Project Rene, they should take these things into account so players can have the best experience.
This means thatThe Sims 4— with all its faults — will be the basis on which an entire franchise of games is built. While the idea of so many interconnectedSimsgames is exciting, it would likely have been more exciting if the flagship game propping it all up wasn’t a 10-year-old game that’s buggy and bloated with DLC. Though a newSimsgame would likely have been discouraging to anyone who has sunk over $1000 intoThe Sims 4, it’s also disappointing that the franchise seems to be stagnating here.
