Sims 4: Everything announced at the Behind the Sims summit

Electronic Arts and Maxis hosted a special Behind The Sims Summit stream on Tuesday celebrated 22 years of the legendary life simulation game and teased what’s next for the franchise.

Perhaps most notably, players now can Download The Sims 4 base game for free via Steam and Origin for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox Series X, Series S and Xbox One. The development team will continue to release game updates and Sims Delivery Express drops to keep the base game fresh and fun.

Here’s everything that was announced during the Behind The Sims Summit stream:

Reference to The Sims 5?

During the stream, The Sims 4 team announced Project Rene – a very early preview of the next generation of The Sims game. The Sims 5 wasn’t specifically mentioned, and since this is such an early preview, it’s likely that the final iteration of Project Rene will look very different.

During the stream, viewers got a glimpse of a completely revamped build and buy system. The customization in the demo looked very detailed. Instead of a simple pre-built bed, the revamped UI showed the ability to customize the base and footboard of the bed. Additionally, the demo previewed a color wheel and swatches instead of preselected swatches and themes.

The demo showcased separate adjustable cushions for furniture, as well as the ability to move items around a room without sticking to the grid or using cheats. The new teased UI looks like a program you would use as an interior designer, which would greatly improve the realism of The Sims. The team also showed tests for new library sharing features and cross-platform play.

Again, there is no guarantee that this will be exactly what players will be able to try for years to come.

New expansion packs are coming next year

In addition to the free base game news, The Sims 4 team promised more downloadable content for the game. We took a look at some concept art for colorful new worlds, rustic new builds, detailed clutter, and modern clothing.

No specific titles were announced, but the stream ended with a teaser involving little Sims. The short clip showed a baby in diapers babbling and crawling across a living room. The baby stopped and sneezed happily before rolling onto his back and being picked up by an adult Sim.

This short animation definitely seems to signal more dynamic gameplay around babies in The Sims. Whether or not we get a dedicated expansion pack, the baby previewed on the stream is more advanced than what Simmers can currently play with.

Updates for The Sims Freeplay and The Sims Mobile

During the stream, the Maxis development team announced new updates for The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile.

The Sims FreePlay will release a free update for Sims’ appearance for kids, teens, adults and the elderly. This update includes new hairstyles and accessories for all genders. Players can look forward to a new narrative for December’s annual Christmas quest, as well as the opportunity to build and live in a superyacht in 2023.

Additionally, The Sims Mobile will be adding balconies to its build-and-buy catalog this holiday season.

Work more closely with the creators

The right mod or custom content can spice up boring gameplay. The Sims 4 team announced a new collaboration with Overwolf, the operators of CurseForge, a mod manager and user-generated content discovery platform, to create a new, safe place for Simmers to download mods and custom content. This greatly reduces the risk of clicking on a shady link and catching a computer virus.

The new mod and custom content objective will roll out later this year, although we don’t know what specific mods will be available.