For long-time players, the game’s 25th anniversary elicits hope and skepticism in equal measure.
The Sims celebrated its 25-year anniversary on February 4, 2025.
For those who witnessed The Sims 4’s extremely rocky launch, Project Rene feels like Groundhog Day.
When The Sims 4 launched in September 2014, it was in pretty rough condition.
But what really had long-time Simmers simmering with anger was the fact that gameplay itself had seemingly been gutted.
Of course, there were new features.
Another glaring issue was the absence of any option to customize a clothing item’s color or texture.
This feature was introduced in The Sims 3 and became pivotal to The Sims experience.
Players can even design the pattern of their pet’s coat.
Customization woes followed the game into Build Mode and Buy Mode as well.
The answer to that question was Project Olympus.
Olympus was envisioned as–you guessed it–an online, MMO-style Sims experience.
The Sims 4 would not, in fact, be an always-online MMO.
(Well, some of them, anyway.)
Server issues and other bugs only bogged the game down more, and the game’s reception wasgenerally negative.
Meanwhile, players quickly found that modifying a single line of codemade offline play instantly accessible.
EA would eventually release an offline mode as a part of SimCity 2013’s 10th update.
In the wake of the SimCity debacle, EA opted for a 180-degree turn.
In the years after its launch, The Sims 4 was slowly improved.
This much DLC has led to another problem: recurrent bugs.
(This issue was addressed by EA in 2024, two years after My Wedding Stories launched.)
But in 2024, things changed.
Missing features from The Sims 3–like eyelashes and manicures–were finally implemented.
The Lovestruck expansion allows players to set the tone for Sim relationships.
Some Sim-couples may have an excellent relationship, while others may be distrustful of one another.
2024’s Life & Death expansion also served as a ray of hope for jaded Simmers.
Life & Death implemented a touch of much-missed morbid mischief that the squeaky-clean Sims 4 desperately needed.
For these players, nothing can truly get the franchise where it needs to be like a fresh start.
Unfortunately, it seems that The Sims 5 is no longer in the cards.
We’ve only seen aglimpse of Project Reneso far, so it’s hard to judge it.
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