Long suffering fans of The Sims 4 received an early Christmas gift from the game’s production team this week. For the third time in as many months, a free patch has been released for the game, which fixes game bugs and adds significant bits of game play previously missing from the game at no charge to players.
The newest patch, released December 16, included fixes to several problems that have plagued players of The Sims 4 since the game’s September 2014 release. Among the problems repaired by the patch were three issues that caused the game to crash. The real star of the patch update is the addition of two new career tracks for sims to explore: business and athletic. Both careers were mainstays of The Sims 3 .
The business career track includes new career outfits and career rewards. Sims that enter the world of business can choose to become an Angel Investor or a Business Tycoon. Sims with a mind toward physical fitness may prefer the athletic career track, which included new career outfits and careers rewards of it’s own and allows sims to choose between becoming a Hall of Famer or Mr. or Ms. Solar System.
With the new content additions, sims will also accrue paid time off from their careers and can take family leave, special paid time off time to the third trimester of pregnancy, and the birth of a sim baby. Previously existing career aspirations were also tweaked in response to player complaints. Be sure to review your sim’s career aspirations the next time you play.
Fans of The Sims 4 who prefer to spend their time building and meticulously decorating sims homes will be happy to know that the extremely useful Move Objects Cheat has finally returned.
The new content patch also includes a free Holiday Celebration Pack , which includes Christmas themed sweaters for your sims and decorations for their homes. The Holiday Celebration Pack will be available to owners of The Sims 4 until December 16, 2016, so any consumer who purchases The Sims 4 within the next two years will receive the holiday content.
The Sims 4 content patch update comes on the heels of CNET declaring the newest installment of The Sims franchise one of the most disappointing games of 2014 . In it’s review of The Sims 4 when the game launched in September 2014, Gamespot lauded The Sims 4’s streamlined build and buy modes, but attacked the game for it’s lack of innovation and missing content that was included in previous base games in The Sims franchise.
Missing from the announcement this morning was any clue to the upcoming expansion pack. Though clever members of the Sims community have managed to get ahead of EA’s announcements. According to S4NEws , files imbedded in the new content patch prepare the game for an upcoming gameplay pack called The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat . The gameplay pack is expected to retail for $19.99, and will include a new destination, camping and hiking gear, and unique outdoor activities. An official announcement is expected Friday, December 19.
There is still no word on a The Sims 4 released date for Mac users.
The digital download of The Sims 4 Digital Deluxe Edition is available for download on Origin. For now, it’s $46.66, down 33 percent from it’s MSRP of $69.99. Or get the The Sims 4 Standard Edition for $39.99.