After working the odd free weekend right here and there for years, EA has opted to make The Sims 4 base recreation absolutely free for all new gamers on PC, Mac, and console beginning October 18.

Originally launched in 2014, The Sims 4 boasts a playerbase of hundreds of thousands already, and has acquired no small quantity of paid add-ons and free updates through the years. Notably, the sport has an enormous library of paid expansions which, at full value, now quantities to someplace over $900 price of content material altogether.

By dropping the $20 pricetag from the bottom recreation, EA stands to make it that a lot simpler for brand spanking new gamers to hitch The Sims 4 ecosystem, and probably buy a few of that downloadable content material down the road.

“Our neighborhood has continued to encourage us with the billions of
distinctive Sims they’ve created, the numerous tales they’ve informed, and the
outstanding builds they’ve designed,” reads a weblog from The Sims 4 crew. “We’re excited to proceed to welcome in additional gamers than ever to create new tales, and discover with out boundaries. The Sims has at all times been about celebrating new methods to play and presents so many prospects to find.”

For reference, The Sims 4 has been steadily gaining new gamers since that considerably rocky 2014 launch, and is routinely credited by EA as one of many franchises serving to to drive its dwell providers portfolio, together with the likes of Apex Legends and FIFA Ultimate Team. While it has made fewer appearances within the firm’s monetary stories and earnings calls over the past yr, again in May 2021 the sport celebrated 6 consecutive years of development and a playerbase of 36 million gamers.

More The Sims 4 content material on the horizon

While the newest recreation has almost doubled the lifespan of different numbered video games within the sequence, EA does not appear eager to retire The Sims 4 simply fairly but. Along with information of the free-to-play drop, EA and developer Maxis have calmly confirmed that the duo will proceed to create content material for the present iteration of the long-running sequence, persevering with The Sims 4‘s close to decade-long reign.

“With The Sims 4 going free to play, our crew is extra devoted than ever to growing new and significant The Sims 4 experiences for our gamers,” reads a weblog put up from the crew. “We will proceed to develop and launch packs, kits and Sims Delivery Express drops into the foreseeable future.”

More gamers! More tales! More methods to chaos! ✨
The Sims 4 can be FREE to obtain throughout PC/Mac & Consoles on October 18!

More updates to comply with throughout a particular Behind The Sims Summit stream: https://t.co/89B3MDdeek pic.twitter.com/W4Gjg3xl75

— The Sims (@TheSims) September 14, 2022