How many more years of TS4?

My prediction is that The Sims 4 will after Cats & Dogs have at least three more expansion packs, with the last one being released in 2020. The Sims 5 would be announced in 2020 as the "20th anniversary gift" and be released around late summer in 2021. So in January 2021 The Sims 4 would have 7 expansion packs (just like the first The Sims game) and maybe around 9-10 game packs.

"aricarai;c-16136804" wrote:

"a_niles06;c-16136264" wrote:

"aricarai;c-16136098" wrote:

"a_niles06;c-16136054" wrote:
Personally, I feel like TS4 has a lot of life left in it. If we're only getting 1 EP a year I fail to see how it'll wrap up by 2020 for any possible TS5. I just don't see that happening. I do see them doing something big/fresh/exciting for 2020, though, but I doubt it'll be TS5. I think that the overall system is so much smoother than previous games. I love the ease of having all expansions/game packs/stuff packs in one game engine as opposed to having to go through all of the different discs for install or all of the different folders to place mods/CC/whatever else. I honestly thought I'd hate having it all go through Origin and be download only instead of discs at first but now I love it - it's so much simpler and everything can download at once without me having to insert/remove discs. As long as they maintain that system, I think the amount of content they could include could be almost endless.

TS4 still needs a lot of work in my opinion and there are a lot of key/important pieces still missing. I really hope they don't rush to finish it just to release TS5 in the year of their 20th anniversary. That would guarantee we only get half-baked production, which a lot of people feel is already the case so I definitely don't want it to get any worse.

@a_niles06 - how does that guarantee that? If you look at what's in previous games - what's missing for major EPs - staple ones? Seasons? University? They've already shown that they can bring out supernatural in GPs - how many of those do they do in a year?

I think they've got time to complete TS4 in 3 years especially in the way that have been splitting up content into different types of packs.

Never said it guarantees anything. Simply said I don't see them wrapping it up in 3 years.

I agree - some of that content is going to be split into smaller GPs or even free updates, I imagine. But I just don't see EA giving up on it that fast, especially with only one EP release a year. It made sense for TS3 and TS2 to wrap up in 4 years because they released 2, sometimes 3, EPs a year.

We have no guarantee they'll release all supernaturals in individual packs - aliens came with an EP, vampires came on their own and ghosts came in a free update so there hasn't been a consistent type of release with supernaturals. And let's not forget the "plant sims" - we didn't even technically get those, just the option to be one temporarily. They could be planning a supernatural EP for the rest of them (or do the plum thing they did with vampires in TS3 where they already released them but just "improved" them for the EP) which alone would eliminate what many speculate would be at least another 2-3 GPs. Also, with regard to supernaturals, while I can see them adding in werewolves, witches and possibly fairies or genies, I don't know that I see mermaids coming back since we can't swim in the water. If that gets added, maybe. I also don't know if I see things like imaginary friends, zombies, mummies or any of those other smaller supernaturals making a comeback. If they don't, then at most we're looking at maybe 2-3 possible supernatural GPs if that.

We've only been given one vacation type of GP so far so we have no baseline to go by for how those will be released. My guess is we won't see any of that until after seasons are in game, and that's assuming we'll get a dedicated Seasons EP. If they flesh out the vacation worlds and release an individual snowy mountain retreat GP, we will obviously either need a seasons EP before then or the snow would have to come in an update or with that GP.

As for other staples, for some people the showtime/superstar type of gameplay is a staple and we really don't have much yet in the way of superstar gameplay. And forget about old content, some players want new content like farming, superheroes, etc. I could be wrong and they could wrap it up by 2020, but I just really don't see them finishing the game with only 7 EPs if they really only do 1 a year for the next 3 years. But who knows. The way they've distributed content hasn't been super consistent so it's hard to speculate what they will/won't do.

You said if they rush to wrap it up by 2020, that guarantees a half baked product @a_niles06. Of course, if the emphasis should be on the rush part and not the year in which it finishes, then yes, I do agree with you. A rush on anything = a half baked product; however, if you're simply saying they couldn't possibly fit everything in in 3 years, well, that's where my question stemmed from.

I agree that many want new content, too, but that for certain isn't guaranteed - they could feed bits and pieces into packs and call them new features without ever making a dedicated pack for new content.

But like you said, it is hard to speculate.

Aah, yes, the emphasis is on the idea of rushing it to meet a specific year just for the sake of releasing TS5 in the anniversary year. If we want/push them to rush it, we will most likely get half-baked product.

Yes, I think the lack of a consistent releases is what also gives me the idea they plan to let TS4 stretch as long as possible. If they were consistently following a strict release schedule, I think I'd be more inclined to believe/see it wrapping up in a few years. As I said, I could end up being totally wrong - it'll be interesting to see how it plays out! Ultimately I just can't see them stopping with only 7 EPs and letting their small SPs/GPs be what truly carries the game. But maybe I'll be wrong.

The other thing I think people often forget (myself included) is that, if TS5 were really to release in 2020, production on TS4 would probably end in 2019 (typically in the series the final release for a generation of the game comes out the year before the next generation does). This means we actually would only have 2 more EPs if they continue with 1 a year. Only 6 EPs total for TS4? I just don't see it. But we'll see what happens! A lot can change in 2 years.

it may have been out for ages but we still dont have a lot of things than we should, staircases carpeted ones spiral ,L shaped any shape pls for the love of god! weather, university etc

My hope is that it ends in 2020. My dream is that it ends sooner than later.

Hopefully not too many. I want it to end ASAP. I want TS5 with TS4's toddlers.

As Long as it takes to satisfy my needs.

I hope it last for a while. I feel like the game doesn't have much depth to it and there are lots of room to expand. It would suck to know I spent a ton of money buying packs to try to get the game to feel complete to have them dump it to start a new one with probably less to do as a base game and then I'd have to spend a ton of money trying to make that game and start over.

I'd estimate two.

Their answer has been a rather cryptic and empty "we'll keep making packs as long as it makes sense to" or "Sims 4 could have a longer life than previous titles." I think that with Sims 1, 2 and 3 they probably followed that exact same rule and kept making packs as long as it made sense to. After all, why would they go to work one day and say "let's stop making Sims 2 for no apparent reason! \o/" No, there would've been a reason, and that reason is likely that they hit a point where it ceased being profitable to continue and they stood to make MORE money by making their way to the next title.

The furthest a game has gone until now is about 4 and a half years with Sims 3. I would guess this one will likely go to five or five and a half. The reason for this is both because they seemed to get a bit of rejuvenation to sales once Toddlers released, and I think they risk outrage if certain features like Seasons, University and Witches aren't accounted for OR this title doesn't even have as many expansions as Sims 1. 5 years gives them time to release 2-3 more expansions (assuming they pick up the pace at the end for +1 expansion), which would be just enough time to meet these demands, match the Sims 1 in expansion count, as well as watch their sales steadily decline as they tend to do. Over time sales tend to drop off, and Sims 4 and it's packs are no exception to this rule.

Anything longer seems overly optimistic and fails to account for the fact that a lot can change in just 6 months. Anything shorter seems to not account for the fact that currently we are seeing hints of Seasons, this does suggest at least 4 years of life, and we've not really seen any hints Seasons will be the last as of yet.

My speculation is that we'll have at least 2 more years of TS4 to go- 2018 and 2019 with the release of the next Sims series releasing in 2021. We've been receiving 2 game packs a year now, and 1 expansion pack a year (not including Get to Work and Get Together which released in 2015).

I could see Seasons and Vacations combined into one expansion- with 2 or 3 new travel destinations centered around the different seasons- Country Life- autumn/fall; Island Paradise- summer; Winter Ski Resort- winter; each world being the size of Granite Falls or Newcrest. So that would leave University for it's own expansion pack with the possibility of adding a grade school element into it as well and calling the entire pack Get to School. So that would leave Seasons/Vacations for 2018 and Get to School for 2019. After that I predict that will be the end of the major expansions for TS4.

As for Game Packs that would leave us with 4 to 5 game packs, assuming they carry releases over into 2020. I could see a Finding Love GP centered around romance, Witches & Werewolves GP since those are two of the most requested supernatural occult life states, along with a Family themed GP similar to Generations. I personally want a Get Famous pack similar to TS1 Superstar, so hopefully Maxis is planning a celebrity-themed GP for the future.

And who knows how many more stuff packs we may see until TS5 is released. So far, since the first SP released in 2015 we've received 12 SPs and technically 13 if you count the free Holiday SP in a 3-year span. So if TS4 carries over into 2020... we could see an additional 12 SPs. So who knows... we may receive things like new active careers, new businesses, and new life states in upcoming SPs that didn't make it into EPs and GPs.

To sum it all up, my prediction is that TS4 will end Spring/Summer 2020 with the release of TS5 in Fall of 2021.

Hopefully next year will be the last EP. TS4 just needs to go. It's the worst in the series and it feels like it's just here to make time for an actual sequel. Let's be real TS4 was not even meant to be a sequel it was rushed and at this point I don't see the devs adding any new features. Just re-using over and over what they introduced in the first two years. Plus every add-on has so little content and so many limitation it's tiring really.