Are they on hiatus again or they are gone? Is it the same thing for game packs? I thought there were a exclusive studio that'd be responsible for creating new stuff packs but where are they? I'd actually wish we could have transparency for these things. :(
I also miss Game and Stuff Pack releases. Since joining Sims 4 last year there have been 3 EP releases and many kits, but nothing else. I think they're missing out big time on the market not turning the community's requests into smaller packs.
No one knows. It's all just speculation. I actually preferred game packs and do hope they eventually make a return.
At the moment its just insanely expensive large pieces of content or tiny pieces of overpriced content. Game packs and stuff packs are the only pieces of content that a considerably priced, still slightly overpriced but more reasonable.
I made a thread about this a little while ago:
WE NEED ANOTHER GAMEPACK OR STUFFPACK! | EA Forums - 12276534
I do wish they could be more straight with us too.
Just say "at this time we cannot afford to...", "we don't make enough money from GP/SP..." or whatever the reason.
Crystal Creations and Paranormal are amazing packs, they add so much to the game for just being SPs. I also love Home Chef Hustle. I can't imagine not having these—so who knows what else we could have been getting!
I miss stuff packs, and game packs even more. Some gameplay features deserve to be developed properly but don't need to be attached to other gameplay. The latest enchanted by nature is a perfect example of what could have been two great game packs: one about fairies and one about nature and apothecary. For simmers who want only one of the two, it's great if they don't have to pay for the other.
For the last year we only had big EP or stuff packs without gameplay. I miss the middle ground.
I wish they would continue Gameplay Packs. They were my favorites.
We can only speculate, but if I had to guess it's a shift in production because they have noticed that people are spending less money on videogames so they are focusing on expansion packs which gives people more reason to buy them because they contain a lot of content.
A large market for The Sims is most likely Gen Z and they have cut down on video game spending significantly by nearly a quarter of what they used to spend: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gen-z-is-cutting-back-on-video-game-purchases-like-really-cutting-back
Expansion Packs also have larger budgets which makes them able to spend more money on marketing to reach out. Which they did with Enchanted By Nature. Their collaboration with celebrities could have been an attempt to reach out to the younger generation.
So I think it's because things are more expensive now, young people are saving their money and that resulted in smaller packs falling back.
As you said we can only speculate but I think it is showing of the times. Everything is getting expensive and people are not spending as much on entertainment (not just Sims franchise). As soon as I saw the second summer sale aka Mid-Summer Sale so soon after the first Summer Sale, I figured all video games sales were down (I didn't need an article to let me know), and the second sale was to try to sell some more digital products. If we also get a End of Summer Sale and/or Back to School Sale—then that will be really telling.
Also the fact they didn't have their 60% off old/older EPs also was concerning, as every sale I have been around for has had it, and I didn't buy it at 50% because I know we can get it at 60%—so I am waiting. At this late stage, I almost think they should just keep the discounts on older packs as a permanent practice. Show you (EA) get times are tough, and we aren't going to spend as much on things at full price as a general practice.
Again as mentioned if there was more transparency, I think it would be well received. If they did something like if you buy an EP at full price you get the original LE pre-order items, it be incentive to sell packs at full price, and a second chance at the items. Or maybe sell the LE items in small micro packs as support Sims 4 for contribution bumps. It both shows support to the franchise and gets people something they may have missed out on.
The next stuff pack hopefully may be the highly requested Justine Keaton stuff pack.
I miss them too. I was surprised that faeries came in an EP because I was sure they'd come in a GP. I'll get the pack eventually, just waiting for things to settle in respect of the various changes to ailments. I will most likely want to play more often in the winter when it's cold and dreary outside, so that would be a better time for me to get a new pack.
