The Sims 4

The Sims 4

Developers
	Maxis
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	SmartSim
Release dates
Windows	September 2, 2014
macOS (OS X)	February 17, 2015
Reception
Metacritic	70
OpenCritic	70
IGDB	67
Taxonomy
Monetization	Free-to-play, DLC, Expansion pack, Cross-game bonus, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Point and select, Direct control
Genres	Life sim, Farming
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Contemporary, LGBTQ
Series	The Sims

The Sims 4 is a singleplayer life sim game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth main installment of The Sims series.

It was released in North America on September 2, 2014, with releases in Europe and UK followed on September 4 and September 5 respectively. The macOS version was later released worldwide on February 17, 2015. The base game was later made free-to-play on October 18, 2022.

On November 18, 2019 support for 32-bit Windows systems, as well as macOS systems with OpenGL API was deprecated. Affected players were required to download the Legacy Edition from Origin, which provided support for those legacy OSes. Legacy Edition was later discontinued on December 12, 2022. Unsupported installations would receive an error message upon launch beginning with Patch 144 on April 18, 2023.

General information

Official forums

The Sims 4 Legacy Edition FAQ

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Expansions were provided on DVDs until the first expansion in the United States and at least the third expansion in Europe. After that, all retail copies came with download codes. Only the Windows version was available on the game install DVD, the Mac version required a download code. Retail copies are no longer produced as of the Snowy Escape expansion.
Amazon.com
EA app		Digital Deluxe Edition also available, included with EA Play alongside the Get To Work expansion.
Epic Games Store		Included with EA Play (Epic) alongside the Get To Work expansion.
Microsoft Store		Included alongside the Get to Work expansion exclusively with Xbox Game Pass for PC as part of its version of EA Play.
Steam		Included with EA Play (Steam) alongside the Get To Work expansion.
(unavailable)		Digital Deluxe Edition also available.
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Humble Store (unavailable)

Before the game was made free-to play, it included custom DRM that enlarged censor mosaic.

All versions require EA app DRM.

Create A Sim Demo was available until the base game was made free-to-play.

Legacy Edition was available until December 12, 2022.

Version differences

List of all different versions and regions can be found on Wikipedia.

Legacy Edition did not support any online features or DLC released after September 2019.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Cross-game bonus	Between 2014 and 2017, registering serial codes for The Sims 3 and its expansion packs (but not its stuff packs) on a since-removed "Rewards" page on EA's websites, would unlock exclusive lamps (Many of them emotion-altering) and a statue.
DLC	Kits contain a small selection of themed object/cosmetics. Stuff Packs contain sizeable additions to content already available in the base game.
Expansion pack	Game Packs contain sizeable (but not major) additions not available in the base game. Expansion Packs contain major gameplay additions not present in the base game.
Free-to-play	Free-to-play as of October 18, 2022. Formerly required an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via EA Play.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Life of the Party	Included in all but Standard editions.
Up All Night	Included in all but Standard and Limited editions.
Awesome Animal Hats	Included in all but Standard and Limited editions.
P.R.I.M.A 3000	Included in Collector's edition.
Plumbob Light Awards	Bonus content for the owners of The Sims 3 expansion packs.
Digital Soundtrack	Included in all but Standard and Limited editions.
Digital Deluxe Upgrade	Includes all of the the above plus soundtrack.
Holiday Celebration Pack	Free Stuff Pack (FP01).
Grim's Ghoulish Guitar	Obtained by signing up for the newsletter.
The Family Portrait	Obtained by signing up for The Sims Mobile at launch.
Get to Work	Expansion pack 1 (EP01).
Get Together	Expansion pack 2 (EP02).
City Living	Expansion pack 3 (EP03).
Cats & Dogs	Expansion pack 4 (EP04).
Seasons	Expansion pack 5 (EP05).
Get Famous	Expansion pack 6 (EP06).
Island Living	Expansion pack 7 (EP07). None of the expansion packs below are supported in Legacy Edition.
Discover University	Expansion pack 8 (EP08).
Eco Lifestyle	Expansion pack 9 (EP09).
Snowy Escape	Expansion pack 10 (EP10).
Cottage Living	Expansion pack 11 (EP11).
High School Years	Expansion pack 12 (EP12).
Lovestuck	Expansion pack 13 (EP13).
Horse Ranch	Expansion pack 14 (EP14).
For Rent	Expansion pack 15 (EP15).
Lovestruck	Expansion pack 16 (EP16).
Life & Death	Expansion pack 17 (EP17).
Businesses & Hobbies	Expansion pack 18 (EP18).
Outdoor Retreat	Game pack (GP01).
Spa Day	Game pack (GP02).
Dine Out	Game pack (GP03).
Vampires	Game pack (GP04).
Parenthood	Game pack (GP05).
Jungle Adventure	Game pack (GP06).
StrangerVille	Game pack (GP07).
Realm of Magic	Game pack (GP08). None of the game packs below are supported in Legacy Edition.
Journey to Batuu	Game pack (GP09).
Dream Home Decorator	Game pack (GP10).
My Wedding Stories	Game pack (GP11).
Werewolves	Game pack (GP12).
Luxury Party	Stuff pack (SP01).
Perfect Patio	Stuff pack (SP02).
Cool Kitchen	Stuff pack (SP03).
Spooky	Stuff pack (SP04).
Movie Hangout	Stuff pack (SP05).
Romantic Garden	Stuff pack (SP06).
Kids Room	Stuff pack (SP07).
Backyard	Stuff pack (SP08).
Vintage Glamour	Stuff pack (SP09).
Bowling Night	Stuff pack (SP10).
Fitness	Stuff pack (SP11).
Toddler	Stuff pack (SP12).
Laundry Day	Stuff pack (SP13).
My First Pet	Stuff pack (SP14).
Moschino	Stuff pack (SP15). None of the stuff packs below are supported in Legacy Edition.
Tiny Living	Stuff pack (SP16).
Nifty Knitting	Stuff pack (SP17).
Paranormal	Stuff pack (SP18).
Home Chef Hustle	Stuff pack (SP46).
Crystal Creations	Stuff pack (SP49).
Throwback Fit	Kit (SP20). None of the kits are supported in Legacy Edition.
Country Kitchen	Kit (SP21).
Bust the Dust	Kit (SP22).
Courtyard Oasis	Kit (SP23).
Fashion Street	Kit (SP24).
Industrial Loft	Kit (SP25).
Incheon Arrivals	Kit (SP26).
Modern Menswear	Kit (SP28).
Blooming Rooms	Kit (SP29).
Carnival Streetwear	Kit (SP30).
Décor to the Max	Kit (SP31).
Moonlight Chic	Kit (SP32).
Little Campers	Kit (SP33).
First Fits	Kit (SP34).
Desert Luxe	Kit (SP35).
Pastel Pop	Kit (SP36).
Everyday Clutter	Kit (SP37).
Simtimates Collection	Kit (SP38).
Bathroom Clutter	Kit (SP39).
Greenhouse Haven	Kit (SP40).
Basement Treasures	Kit (SP41).
Grunge Revival	Kit (SP42).
Book Nook	Kit (SP43).
Poolside Splash	Kit (SP44).
Modern Luxe	Kit (SP45).
Castle Estate	Kit (SP47).
Goth Galore	Kit (SP48).
Urban Homage	Kit (SP50).
Party Essentials	Kit (SP51).
Riviera Retreat	Kit (SP52).
Cozy Bistro	Kit (SP53).
Artist Studio Kit	Kit (SP54).
Storybook Nursery Kit	Kit (SP55).
Comfy Gamer Kit	Kit (SP58).
Secret Sanctuary Kit	Kit (SP59).
Casanova Cave Kit	Kit (SP60).
Restoration Workshop Kit	Kit (SP65).
Golden Years Kit	Kit (SP66).
Kitchen Clutter Kit	Kit (SP67).
Sweet Slumber Party Kit	Creator Kit (SP56).
Cozy Kitsch Kit	Creator Kit (SP57).
Refined Living Room Kit	Creator Kit (SP61).
Business Chic Kit	Creator Kit (SP62).
Sleek Bathroom Kit	Creator Kit (SP63).
Sweet Allure Kit	Creator Kit (SP64).

Microtransactions

Type	Notes
No microtransactions	No microtransactions are present in the game.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -nointro command line argument

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Options.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\saves\
macOS (OS X)	$HOME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/saves/
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1222670/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
EA app
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Video settings

Accessibility settings

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Hor+ gameplay with spanned HUD.
4K Ultra HD			UI can be scaled under Accessibility settings. See also UI scale.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Lacks specific option. Force in graphics card control panel for best results.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		MSAA, labelled as Edge Smoothing. Off, Low (2x), Medium (4x), High (8x).
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		200 FPS cap by default. See Frame rate capping to adjust the cap.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Frame rate capping

Change 200 FPS limit
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open Options.ini. Find the key frameratelimit and set the value to your preferred max fps. Save your changes.

Depth of field

This mod removes the distance blur (depth of field).

Use 3rd party fix
Download No Blur in Distance. Copy to \Mods in configuration file(s) location.

UI scale

UI can be scaled under Accessibility settings. This can be modified further than what the game allows.

Further UI scaling
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open Options.ini. Find the key uiscale and set the value to (your dpi - 150). UI becomes smaller with increasing values. Save your changes.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Both axes can be inverted in the "Game Camera" options.
Controller
Controller support		Console versions only.

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Object Music, Music, Voices, Sound Effects and UI Sound sliders.
Surround sound		Quad, 5.1 and 7.1 in-game setting is available.
Subtitles		No intelligible dialog. All in-game dialog uses the fictional Simlish language.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Labelled Audio Focus.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish				Region locked to Polish, Czech and Russian in Poland. Changing language to any other languages is impossible.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish

Issues fixed

Unresponsive and stuck sim

You may want or need to reset your Sims if they become stuck or unresponsive.

Resetting your Sim will return it to a playable state but the Sim will not return to its home lot and its needs will remain the same. This works for all Sims, not just the ones you are controlling, except in cases of “Sim not found.”

Resetting your Sim will cancel your Sim's wishes and moodlets, so make sure to check back with your Sims if you need them to complete specific actions.

ResetSim method
Open the cheat window by pressing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+C. Type resetSim Firstname Lastname and press ↵ Enter. Make sure you enter the name of the Sim you want to reset. If you need to reset all of the Sims in your current game, you can type resetSim *. This cheat command may not be able to reset all Sims and you may receive a “Sim not found” error.

Testingcheats true method
Open the cheat window by pressing Ctrl+⇧ Shift+C. Type testingcheats true and press ↵ Enter. Press ⇧ Shift and then click on the Sim you want to reset. Select the Reset Object (Debug) option.

RivaTuner OSD does not display

Run the game in Windows 8 compatibility mode[citation needed]

Game keeps minimizing on launch

The game will minimize a few seconds after a black screen appears, any subsequent attempts to restore it will lead to the same problem.

The issue appears to happen when the game resolution mismatches the desktop resolution.

Set proper resolution
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open the file Options.ini. Set the options resolutionwidth and resolutionheight to your desktop resolution, e.g. for a 2560x1080 resolution you'd use resolutionwidth = 2560 and resolutionheight = 1080. Save the file.

Oversensitive/unresponsive camera rotation

The Origin and Discord overlays can interfere with the game, where the mouse becomes oversensitive (especially when rotating the camera) or unresponsive.

Disable Origin and/or Discord overlay for the game

Child Accounts can't see the game in the EA app library

Parent accounts can't grant The Sims 4 to a linked child account because there is no key to redeem.

Ask EA Support to grant the base game
Contact EA support via their live chat. Ask the support representative to grant The Sims 4 base game content manually to the child account.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 11
OpenGL		Supported until April 2023 in macOS Legacy Edition.
Metal support

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows				32-bit was supported in original release and Legacy Edition.
macOS (OS X)				Apple Silicon supported since April 18, 2023 with Patch 144.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3-3220 3.3 GHz AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz		Intel Core i5 (4 cores) AMD Ryzen 5
System memory (RAM)	4 GB		8 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	25 GB and 1 GB for saved games		50 GB and 1 GB for saved games
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X1300 Intel GMA X4500 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support		Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 AMD Radeon HD 7750 1 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible

Official Windows system requirements

All specifications mentioned are for the base game only.

Original and Legacy Edition minimum requirements were Windows XP, Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ and 2 GB RAM. Legacy Edition required 22 GB of HDD space in addition to the original installation.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.11
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz Apple M1		Intel Core i5 (4 cores)
System memory (RAM)	4 GB		8 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	25 GB and 1 GB for saved games		50 GB and 1 GB for saved games
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GT 640M Intel HD Graphics 4000 Metal compatible

Official Mac system requirements

All specifications mentioned are for the base game only.

Original and Legacy Edition minimum requirements were macOS 10.7.5, Intel Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro. Legacy Edition required 22 GB of HDD space in addition to the original installation.