How To Play ‘The Sims 4’ On A Mac Just In Time For The New Expansion Pack

Electronic Arts and Maxis have officially announced the first expansion pack of The Sims 4 era. The new pack is called The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat, but it isn’t exactly the kind of expansion pack longtime fans of the series are expecting.

Since it’s creation in 2000, The Sims franchise has had a tradition of modification by talented players. Ahead of the release of The Sims 4, Maxis promised that The Sims 4 would be the most mod accessible game in the series. Maxis has more than stuck to that promise, with software infrastructure in place to make the addition of custom content easier than ever before.

Maxis didn’t stop there. Knowing that moders will crawl through the code of every patch release, Maxis embedded files and music announcing the impending release of The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat. The new pack, called a gameplay pack, will allow sims to camp, fish, and host weenie roasts. The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat is due for release in January, 2014 with an MSRP of $20, the same price as The Sims 3 era expansion packs. Could this mean that The Sims 4 era will only feature gameplay packs? After being declared one of the most disappointing games of 2014, The Sims 4 is in bad need of additional content, which fans can only hope the new gameplay pack will provide

Not all fans of The Sims 4 franchise are happy about the upcoming release.

Since the September, 2014 release of The Sims 4, fans who own Mac computers have been waiting for a release compatible with their machines. And waiting. And waiting. While Maxis promised a Mac compatible version of The Sims 4 would be coming, rumored October and November release dates came and went with no word from Maxis or Electronic Arts, but the company still insists they are working on a Mac compatible version of The Sims 4.

@TheSims THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME… I need Sims 4 on my Mac

— Chloe (@chlolowin) December 28, 2014

still waiting for the Sims 4 to come out on Mac…still waiting…

— Momma Assglamour (@assglamour) December 28, 2014

Can’t play the sims 4 on my Mac. I’m about to just go crawl in a hole for the rest of break.

— Alexandra Lertola (@alertola_) December 28, 2014

@bryvi_ We are working on a Mac version, don’t worry! ?

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 23, 2014

If you just can’t wait for the Mac version to be released, consider creating a Boot Camp partition on your Mac hard drive. Follow the instructions below:

1. Open Disk Utility (usually found in the Launch Pad).

2. Select the primary hard drive.

3. Click the partition tab, and click + to add a partition.

4. Select the new partition.

5. Under “Format” select MS-DOS (FAT).

6. Select the hard drive size. The Sims 4 requires a minimum of 10 GB of hard drive space for installation, but custom content and future gameplay packs will increase that number. Larger is better, but that space will be unavailable for use on the primary hard drive unless the partition is deleted.

Viola. Purchase a PC copy of The Sims 4 and micromanage, decorate, and slaughter your sims to your heart’s content. There is a catch. To function properly, the partition must have a valid, working copy of Windows XP or greater. If you have an old PC lying around that you no longer use, you can use the install disk and license code from the old machine for the new partition.

Failing the creation of a partition, it looks like The Sims fans who own Macs will keep waiting to get their hands on The Sims 4.