You'll soon be able to play The Sims 4 for free

[Mr Jt (Gog is king)]

The Sims 4 is a financial monster of a game to get into, but it looks like EA is trying to make the entry point a little smoother. The publisher has just revealed that the base game is shedding its price tag and going free-to-play from October 18.

Hours before the official announcement word had already been going around—the game's Origin store page was already displaying a big ol' banner proclaiming "The Sims 4 will be free to play starting October 18." Instant Gaming (opens in new tab) also managed to get its hands on two screenshots advertising that the base game was free, which have been circulating on Twitter for most of the day.

It's worth emphasising that it is just the base game that's becoming free—something that has pretty regularly gone on sale for around $5 to $10 for the last few years now and received a permanent price cut back in April. The main moneymaker continues to lie in The Sims 4's countless expansion packs, but this is also the first time I can recall that EA has made any of its Sims games free while it was still current. Those who've already given their cold hard cash away for the base game will receive the Desert Luxe Kit for free which is a nice touch, but if you already own that too then you won't be entitled to any additional goodies. That's valid up until October 17, so if for any reason you feel spurred to buy the base game, now's the time to do it.


I can't help but speculate on why EA is actually doing this, especially when the base game is already so consistently cheap. It definitely feels like a great way to lure over curious simmers to try out the game, realise how many cool gameplay mechanics are locked behind expansions and then hope they drop a few bucks on them. Hell, it's basically how I ended up dropping heaps of money on the game. It could also spell a transition towards a more live-service model, drip-feeding content on a more seasonal basis. My copium would like to think that it means a Sims 5 (opens in new tab)announcement is imminent. After all, The Sims 4 is the longest-running entry in the series, celebrating its eighth anniversary earlier this month. There's been a noticeable winding down on larger packs as of late and with the base game so old by now, an upcoming sequel announcement just makes sense.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough with a stream titled Behind The Sims Summit also happening on October 18. EA says it'll be "sharing more about what's in the works" for the game. That stream will be happening at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST over on The Sims YouTube (opens in new tab) and Twitch.

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/author/mollie-taylor/

[Introverted Gamer]

Początkowo opublikowane przez lee_bobbins:

holy cow, Paralives might have a color wheel, AND saturation, just like the old sims 3?! maybe patterns too?

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TAKE MY MONEY

thank you so much Phirestar for mentioning that!! <3 <3 <3

Początkowo opublikowane przez MinionJoe:

Still won't play EA, even if it's free. They still owe me $50 for bricking my old PC with SecurROM back in 2010.

I feel you, I hate EA too for what they did to the sims franchise. they deserve for some other company to replace them.

The Sims 3 gets super laggy after 3-4 generation of offspring's.

[Polverrati]

Wait you mean there are people that haven't already been playing it for free this whole time?

[TwisterCat]

The Sims 2 was the peak of the series. If the fans of the Sims 2/3 haven't already bought 4, they're not suddenly going to start playing it and sink thousands of dollars into arguably one of the most egregious DLC policies in gaming, just so they can reclaim features they already had in the older titles.

The Sims Castaway is better than 4, EA doesn't deserve the rights to the games.

[TwisterCat]

Początkowo opublikowane przez xAlphaStarOmegax:

Tbh I don't trust Paralives, like I think the dude is just trying to milk it for money. I doubt it's a legit full game, I'll believe it when I see it.

You and me both. Something just doesn't feel right about it, I've seen less experienced teams do more in a shorter period of time with less money. I understand that money doesn't equal results, but there's a lot one can do with 50k per month, he's earning a lot more money developing Paralives than he would be releasing it.

[Morkonan]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Liu Roll:

The first hit is always free.

Free crack pipe with half a rock... It's just one little hit, right? What could go wrong?

[Adversary]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Mr Jt (Gog is king):

The Sims 4 is a financial monster of a game to get into, but it looks like EA is trying to make the entry point a little smoother. The publisher has just revealed that the base game is shedding its price tag and going free-to-play from October 18.

Hours before the official announcement word had already been going around—the game's Origin store page was already displaying a big ol' banner proclaiming "The Sims 4 will be free to play starting October 18." Instant Gaming (opens in new tab) also managed to get its hands on two screenshots advertising that the base game was free, which have been circulating on Twitter for most of the day.

It's worth emphasising that it is just the base game that's becoming free—something that has pretty regularly gone on sale for around $5 to $10 for the last few years now and received a permanent price cut back in April. The main moneymaker continues to lie in The Sims 4's countless expansion packs, but this is also the first time I can recall that EA has made any of its Sims games free while it was still current. Those who've already given their cold hard cash away for the base game will receive the Desert Luxe Kit for free which is a nice touch, but if you already own that too then you won't be entitled to any additional goodies. That's valid up until October 17, so if for any reason you feel spurred to buy the base game, now's the time to do it.


I can't help but speculate on why EA is actually doing this, especially when the base game is already so consistently cheap. It definitely feels like a great way to lure over curious simmers to try out the game, realise how many cool gameplay mechanics are locked behind expansions and then hope they drop a few bucks on them. Hell, it's basically how I ended up dropping heaps of money on the game. It could also spell a transition towards a more live-service model, drip-feeding content on a more seasonal basis. My copium would like to think that it means a Sims 5 (opens in new tab)announcement is imminent. After all, The Sims 4 is the longest-running entry in the series, celebrating its eighth anniversary earlier this month. There's been a noticeable winding down on larger packs as of late and with the base game so old by now, an upcoming sequel announcement just makes sense.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough with a stream titled Behind The Sims Summit also happening on October 18. EA says it'll be "sharing more about what's in the works" for the game. That stream will be happening at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 6 PM BST over on The Sims YouTube (opens in new tab) and Twitch.

https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/author/mollie-taylor/

You can already play for free. Electronic Arts doesn't deserve your business.

Also the reason why they're doing this is EA is big on the games as a service model. That, and they didn't want to make The Sims 4 to begin with. They were more interested in having the remnants of Maxis make The Sims Online 2. But they got backlash when that was announced, and well after Spore resulted in class action lawsuits against them because of the DRM being so malicious that it bricked systems they've been slightly more receptive to not pissing off their customers.

Granted they'll still piss them off and also listen to wokel craptivists instead of their actual user base, but what corporation that gets investments based on how hard they force agendas listens to their customers anymore?