Sul, sul and furby nibs. Or rather, Ooboo Vroose Baa Dooo! That’s happy birthday, to us mere mortals.
The Sims 4 will turn six years old on 2 September 2020. The fourth edition of the popular simulation franchise, The Sims, has lasted much longer than many might have anticipated.
Some may have thought The Sims 5 would have been released by now, but if we look at recent job ads posted by EA for The Sims 4 specifically, it looks like it might be with us for a few more years.
Since The Sims 4 was first released in North America on 2 September 2014, the game has undergone some dramatic changes. In 2020, the game surged in popularity during the lockdown restrictions around the world and it is estimated that there are as many as 30 million players around the world.
With nine expansion packs, eight game packs (and the ninth to come) and 17 stuff packs, The Sims 4 has created a lot of content. And controversy.
The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu game pack
Most recently, the announcement of the franchise’s ninth game pack has ruffled some feathers. Many players are unhappy with the decision to insert another franchise into the game. While we do not know everything about the new pack yet, we do know that an independent poll earlier in the year found that Star Wars is the last thing players wanted for The Sims 4. Yikes.
The Sims 4: Notable additions through base game updates
Overall, though, The Sims 4 has provided hours and hours of entertainment for players of all ages. We recently picked 22 things we would like to see added to The Sims 4 (obviously not in one go with the birthday patch, although, that’d be nice).
That might be wishful thinking, but the game should be getting a free update before the release of the Star Wars game pack.
What better time that the game’s birthday to take a trip down memory lane and see what has been added to the game through the years? The list below does not feature all updates for The Sims 4, but it does include some of the most notable ones.
| Patch release date | Significant features added |
| 1 October 2014 | Ghost, a new type of sim that is an optional addition to the game; Deathflower plant. |
| 4 November 2014 | Swimming pools; Various swimwear. |
| 16 December 2014 | Two new active careers: Business and Athletic; Paid time off and family leave options. |
| 26 March 2015 | Basements, down to two levels down, and an additional above ground floor, bringing the total floors available to six; Notebook feature on the phone, which catalogs a Sim’s gardening or fishing discoveries; Paint by reference option on the easel. |
| 11 July 2015 | Newcrest, a new world containing fifteen empty lots within three new neighborhoods; Welcome wagon from new neighbors; Custom room tool. |
| 9 July 2015 | Half walls; Locked doors; King’s and Queen’s Door, which allow only just the men or women to pass through it, respectively. |
| 6 August 2015 | A dishwasher is added to the appliances, which needs to be slotted into an existing non-island counter. |
| 24 September 2015 | New trait: Jealous; Claiming beds; Underground saunas; Resizeable rugs. |
| 3 November 2015 | Returning NPC: Repair Man. |
| 4 December 2015 | 64-bit executable; New venue type: Pool and new option to water color; Fire and death reaction systems and new NPC interaction; World maps update. |
| 4 February 2016 | Returning NPC: Gardener; New trait: Kleptomaniac; New aspiration; New build mode content. |
| 21 April 2016 | Returning NPC: Tragic Clown. |
| 3 June 2016 | All Create-a-Sim content is available to both sexes, as well as gender customization. |
| 14 July 2016 | Returning NPC: Nannies; Ability to adjust all lights in a room in one go. |
| 27 September 2016 | Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ CAS items; A Mexican dish. |
| 27 October 2016 | Copy and paste function for build mode; new lot traits. |
| 12 January 2017 | Toddler age group, along with unique toddler traits, skills, outfits, objects and the ability to customize your Sims teeth (includes the other life stages). |
| 11 November 2017 | Maximum sim count option in gameplay options; Photography available to all players; New roof customization options; Objects can be shrunk using the size down cheat. |
| 6 February 2018 | New skin tones. |
| 19 June 2018 | Glass roofs; Cold and hot weather outfit categories and Swimwear category for toddlers to CAS in preparation for the Seasons Expansion Pack; Revamped gardening skill. |
| 16 August 2018 | Caribbean-inspired content; Ceiling fan and sliding doors. |
| 13 November 2018 | New careers: Style Influencer and Self-Employment; First person camera; Terrain tools. |
| 16 April 2019 | New career: Freelancer. |
| 18 June 2019 | Fishing update; Part-Time jobs for adult; Stilt foundations; 350 door color swatches. |
| 16 July 2019 | Updated Create a Sim interface with Create a Sim story mode now available for the creation of new characters. |
| 5 September 2019 | Configurable stairs allowing for them to turn in different directions. |
| 12 November 2019 | Multi story columns; 4K user interface scaling. |
| 25 November 2019 | Legacy Edition introduced, retaining support for 32-bit versions of Windows as well as Mac OS X Lion. |
| 16 January 2020 | Support for Simplified Chinese. |
| 3 June 2020 | Returning NPC: Firefighter; Repo Person added from Discover University Expansion Pack; Ladders; Free placement of doors and windows; Improved inventory and bills. |
| 23 July 2020 | Ability to rename cowplants. |
