The Sims 4‘s launch was controversial thanks to the fact that it was missing several key features fundamental to the franchise. Pools, toddlers, basements, terrain tools, and family trees were just some of the basic features that weren’t in the game at launch, with some fans counting up to 89 features from previous games missing at the time. This led to the fear that every single feature would serve as some form of paid DLC for The Sims 4.
As a game that simulates life, pets are an integral part of the experience. The Sims 4 includes cats, dogs, and small animals, and soon horses will become a part of the experience. Horses have been a long time coming in The Sims 4, with their initial exclusion contributing to that controversy. The Sims 3: Pets included were cats, dogs, small animals, and horses, while The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs only included cats and dogs, while small animals were included in a later Stuff Pack called The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff and horses included in the upcoming release of The Sims 4: Horse Ranch.
The Sims 4’s Tendency to Split Content is Wildly Unpopular
This splitting content across packs understandably upset many players, as all the content was included in one pack in The Sims 3, while as just one point of comparison, players had to pay for three different packs to get all the same content in The Sims 4. Many would argue that Horses should have been included on day one, or at the very least with the other animals.
The Sims 5 cannot afford the same controversy as its predecessor, and EA needs to show players it has listened to the concerns of players. It’s been said before that The Sims 4 should have included all of The Sims 3‘s content from day one, as lofty as that is, and the Horse Ranch is just another reminder of that. Now, with The Sims 5 on the horizon, it’s time to deliver on that.
Including all Sims 4 content at launch would mitigate this problem that has plagued the entirety of The Sims 4‘s lifecycle, as well as give The Sims 5 room for creativity and growth with some features from staple expansion packs now considered a given such as Growing Together‘s compatibility and milestone system, Season‘s weather and holidays, City Living‘s apartments and festivals, and the inclusion of animals through pet expansion packs.
How The Sims 5 Can Avoid Stagnation
If EA leaves the content and release cycle as is for The Sims 5, it’ll result in the stagnation of the series, a criticism that is already cropping up in some circles of the player base. Anticipating the release of content that’s already long-expected of the series, such as ambient weather and horses, isn’t innovative and forces the series to wait around while it catches up to what’s already been released before. Fans were anticipating horses for The Sims 4 when it was released in 2014, and now nearly a decade later in 2023 are finally getting them, when it’s content that should have been available at launch.
It shouldn’t take over a decade to include all the content that previous iterations featured, and many fans would prefer a longer wait time for The Sims 5 for release with more foundational content than get it sooner with content that’s missing.
The Sims 5 is in development.