The Sims turns 25, Maxis teases free stuff in anniversary update

As of February 4, The Sims franchise is a quarter century old, and it’s been a crazy 25 years of woo-hooing, drowning Sims in puddles, drawing goblins in the basement, vampire dynasties, career advancement, and other soap opera antics. On Tuesday, Maxis and Electronic Arts held a short stream showcasing some of the upcoming content, including new content packs, collaborations with creators, and quality of life updates.

On February 4th, developer Maxis will be adding a ton of free cosmetics to the game in both Create-A-Sim, Build and Buy modes. This includes new hairstyles, clothing items, shoes, wallpaper, windows, wood finishes on kitchen cabinets and a huge play area with Pirate Ship for Kids Sim.

Later in March, Maxis will also carry out a major lighting overhaul in Sims 4allowing for more dynamic lighting and realistic reflections. This makes installing a bay window in the breakfast nook much more attractive, and architects will no doubt enjoy designing their Sims’ home to maximum aesthetics.

Maxis also shared some small changes coming to Sims 4for example, overhauling many common Sims properties with new elements added to the game over the course of its life. Players will also notice a new menu when they log in starting Tuesday, keeping their current Sim family front and center.

In September, Electronic Arts and Maxis announced that there might not be Sims 5and they will continue to support Sims 4. “Project Rene”, a secret multiplayer-focused project, is still undergoing early play testing. We’ll have to wait for more details on what Project Rene will look like and how it will fit with Sims 4. Maxis is clearly learning from these playtests and is constantly updating the game with new features like the Occult Switcher.