The Sims 4 was first released way back in 2014, and since then, it has been the number one life simulation game on the market. It’s the latest game in the award-winning, best-selling franchise that started way back in the year 2000, and in 2022, it underwent a massive change.
Is The Sims 4 free to play right now? Let’s find out.
Why Are There No New Sims Games?
The Sims 4 has remained the de facto standard for Sims fans the world over for almost a decade. It has seen countless updates and expansion packs released to blow it up, but it hasn’t seen a sequel spawn. There’s a project in the works, but almost nothing is known about it – despite fans constantly sitting on the edges of their seats, eagerly awaiting any news at all.
Last year, it was announced by Electronic Arts that The Sims 4 would become free-to-play. It all began on October 18th, 2022, when The Sims 4’s base game had its price tag removed on every platform, for every player. It was a monumental decision that saw player numbers skyrocket all around the world, and there was even a sharp uptick in the number of sales of The Sims 4 expansion packs.
The Sims 4 makes its money through expansion packs, and there were very few sales of the base game taking place before EA made the decision to make The Sims 4 free to play. It was available on EA Play, which meant that players on Xbox and PC platforms could own it through a subscription service anyway, which further reduced organic sales.
By making the game free to play, EA has introduced millions more players to The Sims 4, and even if 1% of those new users purchase an expansion pack, 10,000 more sales will be recorded that wouldn’t have originally existed – and that’s kind of what happened.
That’s why, at the moment, there are no new Sims games. There’s a lot of money to still be made with The Sims 4, and with the player count soaring, it just doesn’t make commercial sense for EA to release a new game – yet. It’s expected that The Sims 4 will stay hanging around for a few more years yet to come.
But is The Sims 4 Free to Play?
Yes, The Sims 4 is free to play but you’ll need to pay for any of the many available expansion packs. If you want to expand your base game with something like Seasons, Get to Work, or City Living, you’ll have to fork over some cash.
But if you’re happy with the base game, you won’t have to pay a penny.
The Sims 4 is available now for free on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Mac, and PC platforms.
