The Sims 4 Birthday Update: The Good and The Missed Marks
Though The Sims franchise turned 21 on February 4, the developer had a special surprise planned to drop on February 25 to celebrate this iconic birthday. Not much was known about the surprise, but players were aware that the developer teamed up with different custom content creators for The Sims 4 to craft the birthday surprise. The Sims livestream revealed that the new additions to the game are 21 new items, created by 9 different Custom Content (CC) creators who are active members of The Sims community. New items include Build/Buy mode furniture as well as some new CAS (Create-a-Sim) styles.
There seems to be a bit of a divide in the community on how these items are being received, with most of the livestream reveal being a bit lackluster, but the end of the stream dropped some news that players have been waiting to hear - The Sims 4 will finally get bunk beds in a base game update sometime at the end of March. This was probably the highlight of the stream, but there’s no denying the hard work that CC creators put in to making content for The Sims 4 players to enjoy. There were some things done right, and yet some things fell flat at the same time.
CC creator HeyHarrie has given players a new stool, two new tables, a new set of chairs for said tables, and a country flower vase to use when crafting their Sims’ homes. These tables are absolutely stunning and offer a variety of wood tones that not only match each other, but are basic enough that they can merge with almost any style without too much fuss. Creator peacemaker_ic contributed a new wardrobe, side tables, and an adorable cloud mirror to the base game, with the furniture having neutral tones to bright and colorful ones. New food was even added, with icemunmun creating butter chicken, palak paneer, and baked chocolate mousse for Sims to make and enjoy.
As for CAS items, peachiefaerie crafted two new eyebrows and a makeup highlighter, grimcookies created a new lipstick swatch, and Luumia created crow’s feet to help Sims look just a little bit older. Clothing-wise, FeralPoodles created a new cat hat that had some cute kitty swatches, and storylegacysims crafted a new toddler shirt and pants while AHarris00Britney created a new crop shirt and high-waisted jeans. It was fantastic that the developer collaborated with these CC creators to bring their creations to all Sims 4 players and not just those who can download CC. However, that’s unfortunately all the update seemed to get right.
GrimSuruDoi, the host of the livestream, mentioned that the livestream was a celebration of The Sims and coming together as a community - and also receiving gifts. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it was incredibly exciting to see the hard work of the CC creators showcased for everyone to see. However, in addition to “getting gifts,” birthdays are meant for a bit of reflection as well. With this in mind, it was disheartening to not see a single throwback item to other Sims games in the 21st birthday update. The Sims used to have some kind of outlandish, fun items, but none made a return to The Sims 4 this time around.
Also, some of the CC included in the base game update weren’t commissioned by the developer for the update - they were already existing CC pieces that some PC players already had in their game prior to the update. This is a double-edged sword, because console players don’t have access to CC so it’s wonderful they finally get a chance to play with items of this caliber, but it was a bit disappointing for PC players at the same time. All of the pieces are well-crafted, it just may not have been worth the 3 week hype it took to release the update.
Male Sims definitely got left out of this birthday celebration as well. The only new clothing revealed was showcased on a female young adult Sim and a female toddler, and the shirts were definitely coded as “feminine.” While it’s true players can bypass the “masculine” and “feminine” classifications for clothing, they still render a bit strange on Sims that don’t fit those categories. Crow’s feet and the cat hat will suit male Sims just fine, but it’s not a stretch to say the cat hat will only work on Sims with a certain aesthetic. Male Sims can enjoy the new furniture and food, but it seems they were excluded when it came to CAS clothing.
The trend of the developer working with CC creators and influencers in The Sims community is welcomed with open arms, as well as the decision to embrace transparency and keep the community updated with a newly founded “Laundry List.” The first Laundry List should be published on March 10 and will discuss the most reported concern among The Sims players and how the developer is addressing it. Sometimes the patches won’t come out immediately to fix issues, but the Laundry List is to keep communication open between the developer and players. For now, the issue of skin tones not working on consoles has been addressed, and a patch should roll out by the end of March to fix those problems.
Overall, The Sims 4 birthday surprise update wasn’t bad, but it didn’t knock the socks off of players, either. Some of the 21 new items can be used by players time and time again, while others will be of more niche use. The CC creators did a wonderful job making these items for all Sims 4 players to use, it just may have unfortunately been overhyped from the start. Players can form their own opinions of the birthday update items, as The Sims 4 has been updated with all the new items so players can check them out firsthand.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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