Sims 4's development is ending?

There is nothing stating that TS4 will end next year. It doesn't really follow the "traditional" sims schedule. We could be years away from the end of this iteration. There are still a lot of major and minor themes that haven't been reintroduced into the sims 4.

I doubt it. This is the first game where we've only gotten 1 EP in a year. (For 2016 and 2017) It feels like things are moving slower here.

@TeoDoesSims

What people? I'm most curious about where they may have gotten their "facts" and would like to read/see for myself.

No there is no limit or time schedule for the Sims 4. Past Sims series had a limit on the amount of packs each series (game engine) could have preset in the programming and when it reached that number - they had no choice but wind down. For the first time ever this Sims series was programmed with no limit what so ever on the number of packs this game could take - so many of us that look into the data and programming suspected something was up when we saw no listed placards in the programming for numbers of possible packs.

On top of that when people queried those in charge of the game about how long the Sims 4 would be made - we got the answer - that there was no limit on how long Sims 4 could be developed and they would develop the game as long as it was feasible to do so.

Then a year and a half ago EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced the "Live service" and its' role was for extending the shelf life of all of EA's big games to many more years between new base games - well it all made sense. So we have no way to know how long it is "feasible to do so" for Sims 4 but it is obviously planned to keep going for much longer than past games as it has no limits to the amount of content it apparently can run without issue. The only problem I can see is people trying to run the game on under par or old pcs as it continues to grow, as people are still buying the base game well in numbers that definitely keeps EA happy (all 3 earnings calls at EA so far this year had gushing reports of how well Sims 4 is doing and still growing). Plus add to that both the console that just came out in November and the mobile version that does not come out until Spring both need the Sims 4 to make their games; as their games are based this time around right off of our game - so they are not about to shut off Sims 4 before those games are even going hardly.

I suspect Sims 4 will at least double the life of previous Sims games - as long as development sees it "feasible" to do so.

But truthfully no one knows but EA. Keep in mind when a new series is in the works EA always officially announces it about 16 or more months before it is scheduled to come out.

"icmnfrsh;c-16300800" wrote:
I doubt it. This is the first game where we've only gotten 1 EP in a year. (For 2016 and 2017) It feels like things are moving slower here.

This is also the first game of the series that got the indepth specialty game packs - so keep that in mind.

"TeoDoesSims;d-934487" wrote:
So, I heard from people that the Sims series kind of has a "schedule" to the release of sequels. Once every four years or something like that. We are already in the fourth year, which means that the Sims 5 is rumoured to be released around 2019, and we only got 4 expansion packs!

I know, we got a lot of game packs and staff packs, but in my opinion, I think EA should focus more on releasing Expansion Packs, at least the classics that we all want: Seasons and University. I don't want Sims 4's journey to end next year! I just got the taste of it, the years flew so fast! The game is going in the right direction, please, at least extend the development years for 2 years at least! I want more content. Thank you! I hope EA will see this. :)

The Sims 4 will atleast go thru 2020.

"Writin_Reg;c-16300845" wrote:
No there is no limit or time schedule for the Sims 4. Past Sims series had a limit on the amount of packs each series (game engine) could have preset in the programming and when it reached that number - they had no choice but wind down. For the first time ever this Sims series was programmed with no limit what so ever on the number of packs this game could take - so many of us that look into the data and programming suspected something was up when we saw no listed placards in the programming for numbers of possible packs.

On top of that when people queried those in charge of the game about how long the Sims 4 would be made - we got the answer - that there was no limit on how long Sims 4 could be developed and they would develop the game as long as it was feasible to do so.

Then a year and a half ago EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced the "Live service" and its' role was for extending the shelf life of all of EA's big games to many more years between new base games - well it all made sense. So we have no way to know how long it is "feasible to do so" for Sims 4 but it is obviously planned to keep going for much longer than past games as it has no limits to the amount of content it apparently can run without issue. The only problem I can see is people trying to run the game on under par or old pcs as it continues to grow, as people are still buying the base game well in numbers that definitely keeps EA happy (all 3 earnings calls at EA so far this year had gushing reports of how well Sims 4 is doing and still growing). Plus add to that both the console that just came out in November and the mobile version that does not come out until Spring both need the Sims 4 to make their games; as their games are based this time around right off of our game - so they are not about to shut off Sims 4 before those games are even going hardly.

I suspect Sims 4 will at least double the life of previous Sims games - as long as development sees it "feasible" to do so.

But truthfully no one knows but EA. Keep in mind when a new series is in the works EA always officially announces it about 16 or more months before it is scheduled to come out.

To add on to @Writin_Reg , if I remember correctly, Island Paradise was supposed to be the last expansion pack for sims 3. They managed to push it however and add into the future, but I believe it was stated the game couldn't handle any more expansion packs, and into the future was pushing it.

Sims 4 is indeed made differently. It's also supposed to be designed to handle more packs better without slowing down, which I will say it does incredibly. My load screens are barely any longer than launch, and I have all the packs. But even more so, CAS and build/buy doesn't lag a bit even with thousands of stuff, which was my biggest gripe about sims 3.

"icmnfrsh;c-16301039" wrote:

"Writin_Reg;c-16300853" wrote:

"icmnfrsh;c-16300800" wrote:
I doubt it. This is the first game where we've only gotten 1 EP in a year. (For 2016 and 2017) It feels like things are moving slower here.

This is also the first game of the series that got the indepth specialty game packs - so keep that in mind.

True. Although I still feel that 2 GPs don't equal the amount of content in an EP, so things still do feel slower for me.

Right now I'm just waiting to see what they come up with. There are still a lot of ideas they can explore.

They are not supposed to equal a half of an ep - that's just how some simmers seem to think it means. All it really means is a single main idea thoroughly thought out indepth.

An ep is at least 3 main objectives meshed together that are seemingly compatible in some form or manner - that play off of a main focus. It is often less about indepthness and more about giving folks three or more new ideas to work with.

If anything, statements from Developers over the years are more so hinting at The Sims 4 lasting longer than it's previous iterations.

I think the sims 4 has a longggg way to go and I'm very happy about it. The game doesn't feel like finished materialto me at all and theres loads of areas they can still explore, I also know quite some people who've always said ''I won't buy the sims 4 until they release pets'' that have bought the sims after pets came out and are now very much enjoying the game.

So if I already know 4-5 people who didn't want to buy the game before they released Cats & Dogs, I can imagine there being heaps more who thought exactly that, which would explain the growth of the game since Cats & Dogs was released.

There's also loads more stuff I would love to see in the sims 4, both new stuff and things like we had in other sims games. I loved the sims 3, but sadly even with a very new and beefy gaming pc it would load very slow and take forever to do certain things (With all the eps and stuffpacks installed and no cc)