The High School pack drops soon, and this week’s Sims 4 update has brought a bunch of other patch notes as well.
The High School Years release date is very nearly here, with The Sims 4 fans in the UK only having one more day to wait for the highly-anticipated new pack.
Forget about The Sims 5 release date for a second, because High School Years should pull us all back into the previous game, dusting off those Sims 4 cheats and Sims 4 mods as we create new Sims and travail the tricky world of education.
On top of the High School stuff, this week’s Sims 4 update has also brought with it a hefty pile of patch notes that will affect you in other ways as well. Keep on reading and we’ll tell you all the key details!
When is the Sims 4 High School Years release date?
The Sims 4 High School Years release date is Thursday 28th July 2022.
On that date, this academic addition to the game will go live across PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
What time does the Sims 4 High School Years pack release in the UK?
The Sims 4 High School Years pack will become available at 6 pm BST on 28th July for fans in the UK.
In the USA, that translates as 10 am PT or 1 pm ET. Or in central Europe, you should be able to jump in at 7 pm CEST.
Can I pre-order The Sims 4 High School Years pack?
Yes, pre-order pages for The Sims 4 High School Years pack have gone live everywhere — head to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Steam or Origin to place your order.
The Sims 4 High School Years price appears to be £32.99 GBP RRP, with members of the EA Play subscription service being able to claim a 10 per cent discount.
Speaking of discounts, we’ve also seen The Sims 4 High School Years deals at CD Keys, where you can currently buy a digital code for £24.99 (which is touted as a 24 per cent discount).
The Sims 4 update patch notes
To read the game for the High School Years update, the developers of The Sims 4 have already released a hefty update into the game, and they’ve shared a stack of patch notes to let you know what has changed (it’s not just High School stuff, either).
The official EA website proclaims that the base game has also undergone an update, and the biggest change is this: in Create a Sim, you can now customise the sexual orientation of your Sims, identifying which types of people they are attracted to. There’s a whole deep dive blog about that, if you’d like to learn more.
Other changes to The Sims 4 this week include enhancements to the in-game phone, which now has “a sleek, new interface.” And another big new addition is body hair, with various body hair options available for Sims teenaged and up.
Plus, there’s a new Wants and Fears system that will allow you to set… well… wants and fears for your Sims. And in totally different news, among the Build tools, you’ll finally find the ability to make curved walls.
The Sims 4 High School Years gameplay and story details
Let’s get back to the High School stuff, though! In the official announcement, lead producer George Pigula explained some of the new story and gameplay elements that will come to The Sims 4 as part of the High School Years expansion pack.
He said: “Sims will learn to juggle school and extracurricular events, form lifelong friends, and experience big moments like prom. They can even develop their own fashion likes & dislikes with the new Trendi app with clothes designed by Depop sellers.
“High school is an incredibly formative time, and we wanted to give players the chance to create and customise their own, personalised high school experiences before their Sims reach young adulthood.”