The Sims 4 is going free-to-play in October

Electronic Arts has announced that The Sims 4 will be going free-to-play on October 18.

From that date, players will be able to download the base game for free on PC, Mac, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

“With The Sims 4 going free to play, our team is more dedicated than ever to developing new and meaningful The Sims 4 experiences for our players and we will continue to develop and release packs, kits and Sims Delivery Express drops into the foreseeable future,” the company said.

Developer Maxis plans to share more details about its future plans for the game, which is currently priced at $19.99 / £17.99, during a live stream on October 18.

From September 14 until October 17, existing Sims 4 owners will receive the new Desert Luxe Kit free of charge.

“With the Desert Luxe Kit, Sims can relax in their modern oasis with luxurious indoor and outdoor furniture, inspired by the natural landscape of the Southwestern desert and materials like stone and wood,” according to EA.

The Sims 4 was originally released for PC in September 2014 before making its way to Mac in 2015, and to PS4 and Xbox One in 2017.

The game had generated over $1 billion of revenue as of February 2019 and been played by more than 33 million people as of February 2021, according to EA.

Further reading

The Sims 4 has added a new Scenarios mode with goal-based challenges

The first two Scenarios are live now and involve bankruptcy and break-up

During an earnings call last November, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said “the Sims is one of the great franchises of our industry and exists in a category where we have very little competition in the lifestyle category”.

He added: “That team continues to think about how to grow that franchise even more than this day in a category and with a player base that is very different from the rest of our portfolio”.