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Quality of Life Roadmap 2026

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TheSimsDirect
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2 days ago

The Sims 4: Quality of Life Roadmap 2026

Over the past 6 months, we’ve been sharing how we’re continuing to prioritize stability, performance, and acting on long-standing community feedback in The Sims 4. In September, we introduced our Quality of Life roadmap and then in November we updated you on progress. 

Today, we’re sharing a look at our 2026 Quality of Life initiative focused on improving reliability, and reducing gameplay friction across some of the most frequently discussed areas. It’s about making the game you already play feel smoother, intuitive, and more consistent, based directly on player feedback shared in EA Forums, The Sims Discord, and more. 

While the timing and specifics may vary, here’s a look at what we’re planning to focus on over the upcoming months; 

March through August 

We’re going to be investigating improvements on these areas:

  • Sim autonomy: such as Sims choosing inappropriate locations for certain actions, being obsessed with certain objects, or NPC interrupting conversations and other behaviors. Additionally, a large focus on improving Sim sleeping behavior and eyelid animations. 
  • Infant improvements: improving infant and caregiver autonomy, plus ensuring infants receive the correct milestones, interactions, and buffs. 
  • Crashes and data loss: including fixes for black photo issues and the game freezing or crashing.

Our next batch of fixes coming in March is currently being tested by QV, where we’re expecting to ship around 55 fixes, including fixes for 7 of 10 top issues reported by players. Plus, we’ll be updating Sim autonomy improvements based on feedback we collected via our Discord community and votes in the EA Forums. Thanks to everyone who shared their feedback. 

Look for our Laundry List in the coming weeks that will list out all the specific fixes!

September through December: 

Later on this year, we’ll move our focus to improvements to these key themes, which might include issues like; 

  • Dining & meal behavior: issues surrounding Sims eating and drinking, plus improving the overall dining experience. 
  • Family trees & relationships: strengthening genealogy systems and relationship tracking to protect the important stories built across generations.
  • But wait, there’s more! We’ll respond to player feedback as we get nearer to this time to decide what to prioritize next. 

The Year Ahead

The exact timing of these fixes will depend on our investigations, as some areas require deeper technical investigation. We’ll continue sharing progress, highlighting what feedback has shaped our priorities, and adjusting focus areas as needed.

We will provide updates alongside each release so you can see what has been improved and what is still in progress.

Thank you for continuing to share your feedback and experiences with us. Your input directly informs the work we prioritize.

Updated 2 days ago
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3 Comments

  • HollownessDevour's avatar
    HollownessDevour
    Seasoned Ace
    3 hours ago

    I have to agree I would have liked family trees to have been what we have been asking for with our February update and not end of the year.

    Bugs and breaks as priority of course. But I was hoping this last update included family tree editing, at a manage worlds level. At least with that, we can fix anything that broke, or breaks in future updates.

    Plus my non-stop harping on allowing a non-mod way to add The Grim Reaper (also same idea with Father Christmas) to Grimborns' family trees such as Nyon (or player made Sims), without breaking Death/The Grim Reaper. Also allowing descendants/ancestors to be added as well for long lore lineages!

    Autonomy, but I do not see mentioned autonomy at trait/likes/dislikes level, this really needs to be included. Not just object/activity obsessed Sims. But yes, NPC interruptions (especially strangers), please gawd yes, fix this! 

    I'd hate to have to wait till summer for this... but September or later. X /

  • SnowyMarriner's avatar
    SnowyMarriner
    Seasoned Novice
    1 day ago

    I'm Sorry but those Family Tree bugs needs to be prioritised sooner rather than later, having to wait until September at the earliest for anything family tree related is frankly unacceptable. Improvements to the Family trees later on? Fine, great even. But at least fix it on a basic level first so it can actually function and not break with every reload. 
    My multi-legacy save back up is just collecting dust as the last thing I want to do is have to reconfigure all the connections that would be ruined by this awful bug. I hope its on the laundry list, at least to have a short term fix while the team works on a more long term solution if needed.

  • Anthony25404's avatar
    Anthony25404
    Seasoned Newcomer
    1 day ago

    I wanted to share feedback regarding the ongoing family tree issues many players have been experiencing, including Sims disappearing, incorrect relationships, and broken genealogies in longterm saves. As a possible longterm solution, it could be helpful to introduce a fully customizable family tree system. This could allow players to manually place Sims into specific relationship slots by selecting them from their Sim list, rather than relying entirely on automated tracking. Having the ability to build or correct family trees manually would help prevent data loss, support legacy and storytelling gameplay, and avoid many of the issues players are currently facing.