Note: This post will be updated with a run down of the features once the trailer has been released. The cover image is an official screen released by Origin after the trailer.
Also read: Worms, candle making, ladders and other things we spotted int he trailer
The Sims 4 will get its ninth expansion pack in June. After much speculation (and some fake leaks), it was revealed that the pack will be called Eco Lifestyle and will release in June 2020. There are some echoes to previously pondered features, with the response to the pack being somewhat mixed so far.
Many Simmers had hoped for a full-on farming style expansion, but this takes a slightly different turn. The irony isn’t lost on anyone that the pack seems to be recycling a few elements from previous ideas shared with the community.
The Sims 4 can start eco-living on 5 June 2020
That’s when the next pack is set to release officially, although, it is already available for pre-order. Below you can find the official gameplay features listed on The Sims 4 website. They are pasted verbatim, barring minor tweaks to fit our style guide.
Change the world
In Evergreen Harbor, every action you take and decision you make influences the state of the world around you. The cleaner Evergreen Harbor gets, the more you?ll see nature thriving. You determine whether the skies are smoggy or clear enough to see the aurora borealis glimmering above. Let garbage pile up on the streets of your neighbourhood or clean it up to create lush green walking paths in town. It’s up to you!
Upgrade your home
New updates in Build/Buy encourage going green, too. For the first time, you can offset your bills with wind turbines, solar panels, and dew collectors. Reduce your eco-footprint and invest in a living rooftop for a splash of bright colour. Inside, choose between gorgeous new furniture (sustainably made, of course) or upcycle someone else’s junk into beautiful items!
Make or break it
Speaking of reclaiming and repurposing things, why don’t you check out a new job as a maker? As you go around town, keep an eye out for collectibles and materials for your next project. Brave Sims might try dumpster diving for resources like dyes, bits and pieces, and ingredients?as long as they don’t mind the smell. Choose the Freelance Crafter career to fill mail and internet orders for your candles, fizzy juices, upcycled objects, and more! Or try to encourage your neighbors to vote for a community maker space where you can all craft together.
Use you voice
Unused community spaces are going to waste?literally, as a dump. Rally your neighbours to decide how to use it. To get that maker space, you?re going to need support. Want a shared planting space with vertical gardens instead? Vote for it! Every week, you can join your new community in voting for a Neighborhood Action Plan. Transform the shared lot, promote the performing arts, suggest a weekly workout, demand an upcycling initiative, or explore the many other options on the board. Just know that you could end up wearing a paper bag on your head if things go sideways?.
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle: New career
In a press release that followed the trailer, more details were revealed about the new careers.
“Sims can also pursue new careers like a Civil Designer to inspire others to give back to the environment or check out a path as a Freelance Crafter to fill orders for your candles, fizzy juices, upcycled objects, and more,” said the release.
Taking off grid to the next level in The Sims 4
The press release added:
Sims can produce their own electricity and water with solar panels, wind turbines, and dew collectors, or grow their own food at home in a new vertical garden. In addition, Sims can decorate their homes with remade furniture, dress head to toe in clothes that are sustainably made from reclaimed materials, and even work towards having a living rooftop for a splash of bright color. Those who don’t mind the smell can also go dumpster diving to scrounge up pre-used objects and ingredients to repurpose for new, creative goods for their home.
The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle trailer
Set to premiere at 15:00 GMT on 6 May 2020.