The Sims AHQ December Highlights and Recap!

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Welcome all to the first Sims Highlights of 2024!

Today we'll be time traveling all the way back to 2023 and recapping the final updates, news and releases for the month of December. First and foremost I want to thank all of you who participated in our Simsmas 2023 DLC Giveaway and 12 Days of Simsmas Promotions, these are a ton of effort for @EA_Solaire and I and seeing the participation from the community makes it all worthwhile.

On to the highlights!

Simsmas Winners

Big congratulations to both @leucosiax  and @Wndblwz, who were our DLC Giveaway winners! Enjoy your DLC and thanks for making The Sims 4 so awesome 🙂 

News and Announcements:

Have you been keeping up with the new Sims shop over on Shopthesims.com? I hope so, because we dropped the Onyx Runner collection on December 5th and they ran F A S T!

We also hosted a surprise popup event in London called Landgraab & Son(s) on December 7th and 8th that was really cool and featured builds from Plumbella, UK Simmer and many, many more!

Have you been staring at the Halo-Halo from For Rent? Want to try making your own? Well we partnered up with Ian Kewks to share his recipe over at EA.com!

Want some more behind the scenes information on the latest DLC for The Sims 4? Well the developers for the For Rent EP sat down with us to give you just that!

By the time you reach a certain age, I think EVERYONE has a "that guy" story about a nightmare neighbor or rental property. Australian-Filipino creators Angelo and Alexandra Marasigan share some of your wildest experiences using the latest DLC for The Sims 4 here.

Finally, if you weren't a winner in our Simsmas DLC Giveaway we have a bit of a silver lining as SP06: Romantic Garden is free for EVERYONE until January 9th! Click here to claim! 

Patches and SDX Releases:

• On December 5th, a new patch was released which included a few gameplay updates like sink assignments, and the ability to switch your active household directly from Live Mode! For a full list of everything included with this patch, be sure to read up on the notes here.

• And on the 14th, a fast-track fix was released to resolve a few issues with For Rent. You can check out the full list of fixes in the patch notes here. 

Community Highlights:

• It's been an exciting year for The Sims, with so many new in-game additions like horses, infants and rented units. So how about a quick summary of what 2023 looked like in The Sims? @EA_Abril has shared some fun statistics with us in The Sims 4 2023 Recap - this year, we played for a total of 1.8 billion hours, delivered 43 million new infants, and created 4.7 million horses! So how did you spend your time playing this year, was it building houses and apartments, exploring the new worlds of Tomarang, Chestnut Ridge and San Sequoia, or expanding your family with infants? Be sure to share with us how you played this year, and tell us some of your favorite moments from 2023!

• Up next, if you're still on the fence with For Rent and looking for more information on this newest pack, be sure to check out this thorough For Rent Review by @gooochyeee. With 5 new traits, all the new CAS and Build/Buy items, and new world events, which is your favorite thing about this pack? Have you been cooking up some fun recipes with the new kitchen appliances? Or have you been busy managing your rental units as a landlord? Tell us what you're loving most, and share screenshots of all your new rental properties! 

• And finally, we'll finish this month off with an incredibly difficult question asked by @Silkaishere who wants to know what your favorite pack is. With so many great choices, it's almost impossible to just pick one, but I think my vote will go to City Living. But which is your favorite - are you more partial to the beautiful world of Sulani in Island Living, or would you rather play in the lush and quaint world of Henford-on-Bagley in Cottage Living? Or maybe you'd prefer spending your time adventuring through the Selvadorada jungles and mountain climbing in Mt. Komorebi? Whichever your favorite pack is, share with us which one you love most and why! 

Polls:

Favorite Afterschool Activity:

We had another tie for both Scouts and Cheer Team at 29%! While Cheer Team does include the best uniforms, I'd have to go for Scouts personally as I absolutely love completing all the tasks to earn my badges. So if you had to pick a tie-breaker, which one are you choosing? 

Best Base Game Radio Station:

Alternative takes the win for this one at 20%, and definitely my personal favorite as well (except of course for the metal station from Nifty Knitting)

Which Holiday is Your Favorite:

Winterfest stole the vote here at a whopping 48%, and honestly how could you not love the fun traditions of enjoying a grand meal, opening presents and spending time with Father Winter? 

And that's all for another month of highlights! Stay tuned for all the exciting news and updates for next month. Happy Simming everyone!