It's yet another feature getting slapped on the main menu, but at least this one's free.
Our Sims 4 main menu experience is crowded enough already, but it’s about to get more packed. This week players have managed to dig up proof of an upcoming “events” system that will dole out free rewards for logging in regularly. EA hasn’t released any public information about the events feature yet, but there is, for now, an unlisted video on The Sims YouTube channel explaining it in full.
The events feature isn’t live yet, but a current banner on the main menu screen says “What’s so exciting? Come back in 1 week to find out.” It could be related to something else, but I’d say it’s a fair bet that’s this new events system it’s referencing.
As spotted by a few different players, including the (unofficial) Sims Community account, it sure looks and feels like a battle pass. It’s located on the main menu screen with a horizontal track of rewards that you can claim for logging in a certain number of days during the given event period. Rewards are things like new hair and jewelry for Create-A-Sim, new furniture and objects for Build Mode, and what may be a new Sim trait as well. It looks like you aren’t asked to log in every day, with a set of three rewards possible during week one, two during week two, and so on. And though it feels like damning with faint praise to say it, well, at least it’s free.
Content creator SatchOnSims has helpfully done a bit of comparison of all the leaked items in the event rewards track to work out that most seem to be new color swatches or slight alterations on items that have previously appeared in different paid DLC kits and expansions. There’s a recolor of a hairstyle from the Cats & Dogs expansion, a version of a mini fridge from the Discover University expansion, and so on.
Log in rewards are super common in online games as an incentive to keep concurrent player count strong but it’s a weird thing for a singleplayer game to do. It’s been a weird first half of the year overall for The Sims 4.
Back in March it added a nagging store button reminding you to think about buying DLC all the time. Just last week EA announced that it had “assembled a team” to better work on fixing gameplay bugs that have plagued the game for years. And yeah, it doesn’t feel great that another naggy sort of system is likely going to roll right on out while a major bug fixing campaign seems to be just getting off the ground.
It’s been a real mix of things nobody wanted and things everybody’s asked for for years. It feels like The Sims 4 is getting pulled in four different directions like it’s being stretched on a torture rack. Slapping in battle passes while that fad already feels on its way out of favor in the wider gaming community is just another shackle.
It’s unclear whether this system is going to replace or coexist with the current “Sims Delivery Express” system by which The Sims 4 will occasionally add a new free item for all players regardless of when they log in next. And although these “events” look like they’re currently free, I can feel everyone getting nervous that they may not always stay that way, if not in The Sims 4 then possibly in the upcoming The Sims 5.
For now though, getting free variants on things like the mini fridge that were previously only contained in DLCs is something I’m generally in favor of, feeling “pressured” to play aside. If I could request a single-tile shower head like the one in Discover University to use in my base game tiny house builds, that would be great, thanks EA.
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