The Sims 4 is getting on a bit these days, and, as regular players will know, the whole thing – which includes over 70 bits of DLC piled onto the base game over the last 10 years – is starting to feel a bit creaky. And that’s something EA has finally acknowledged, confirming it’s now assembled a team specifically to tackle the ‘frustrating’ technical issues amassed over time.
EA made the proclamation in a statement shared on social media, telling the community, “We know that technical issues with The Sims 4 have interrupted your gameplay over time and we recognise that this has caused you much frustration.”
“Today we can share that we have assembled a team to invest in the core game experience,” it continued, “including tackling your reported concerns.” EA says its new taskforce will result in more fixes arriving at a greater frequency, with the first of these patches due later this month.
Some of the fixes in May’s patch are detailed on EA’s Sims 4 “laundry list” page and cover the base game and various expansions. In classic Sims fashion, there are some real eyebrow-raisers here – including fixes to prevent Sims autonomously wanting to buy mini goats and fixes to prevent teens from flirting with household members – and EA says to expect further improvements not detailed.
“Our goal is to fix more reported concerns, both big and small, over the next six months and beyond to check off more boxes on our Laundry List,” it adds. “This is our first release, with others following roughly every two months.”
The Sims 4 community is, of course, delighted EA to hear is finally pledging to put a greater focus on bugfixing, and especially delighted it’s only taken the publisher ten years to get around to it. As noted on the game’s subreddit, at least one of the bugs on EA’s laundry list has been loitering around for nearly eight years, so, you know, it’ll be nice to get that one sorted.
That said, The Sims 4’s endless cascade of DLC continues this summer – EA recently announced a “summer of love” featuring a “flirtatious expansion and two kit packs – so it’s unlikely the bugs are going to stop piling up anytime soon. Especially seeing as The Sims 4’s free-to-play successor – currently being referred to as Project: Rene – still seems some way off.
