NEWS
by Dan Lenois
EA Shuts Down The Sims 4: Legacy Edition
It's a common fact of life that all live-service games have a lifespan with a defined beginning, middle, and end. This week, EA made the decision to transition players into the later stages of said lifecycle, announcing that on December 12th, said edition of the game being rendered uninstallable after the specified date.
Reading the Fine Print...
In an updated statement released via an existing support blog post, EA declared:
"Sims 4: Legacy Edition is a free edition of The Sims 4 and The Sims 4: Deluxe Version for players on unsupported systems who already owned the full version of the game. As of December 12, 2022, the Legacy Edition will no longer be available.
Before, players could download The Sims 4: Legacy Edition and would be able to play on these operating systems with some limitations. Now, we’re saying goodbye to Legacy Edition, so this option is no longer available."
Before, players could download The Sims 4: Legacy Edition and would be able to play on these operating systems with some limitations. Now, we’re saying goodbye to Legacy Edition, so this option is no longer available."
Technical difficulties...
The Sims 4: Legacy Edition allowed players on older PC systems (specifically those running 32-bit operating Windows systems, or Non-Metal Mac OS devices,) to play The Sims 4. In order to regain access to The Sims 4, players will be forced to transition to a newer 64-bit operating system. The only consolation for players stuck on a 32-bit OS build is that all existing save files will remain locally accessible, allowing you to continue playing in the existing worlds you've created.
Uncertain Future for The Sims 4
EA has extracted a fairly healthy ongoing revenue stream from The Sims 4, and has continued to put out an equally-steady outpouring of expansions and other paid DLC every passing year, most recently including the High School Years expansion on July 28, 2022, with the Pastel Pop kit and the Everyday Clutter kit dropping on November 10th and 11th respectively. Hopefully EA's decision to reallocate focus on newer versions of the game can be taken at face value. However, generally when publishers begin shutting down ports for older systems, that doesn't tend to bode well for the game's long-term future.