The Sims™ 4 ▶ Trailer
The Sims™ 4 screenshot 1The Sims™ 4 screenshot 2
AdventureCasualSimulationFree To PlayLife SimCharacter CustomizationBuildingRomanceSingleplayer

20,966 playing#83 on Steam by players#83 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 28,484

Peak in the last 7 days: 33,529

The Sims™ 4 Steam store

Game description

Play with life and discover the possibilities. Unleash your imagination and create a world of Sims that’s wholly unique. Explore and customize every detail from Sims to homes–and much more.

Basic info

DeveloperMaxis
PublisherElectronic Arts
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateJun 18, 2020
Price

Minimum specs

OS64 Bit Required. Windows 10
Processor3.3 GHz Intel Core i3-3220 (2 cores, 4 threads), AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz (4 cores) or be…
Memory4 GB
Graphics128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeFor…
Storage26 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 389 reviews from the past 1 year

70.8/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (86%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 13, 2026)

Complaints about price dominate reviews of The Sims™ 4, raised in 223 of them, and it holds 70.8 from 202,057 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

Players still find something to love. 115 reviews say they enjoy it, and the most upvoted describes escaping into an affirming world despite the limits of the base game. 54 praise the creative freedom, and the most upvoted finds the build tools engaging. Gameplay ranks 280th of 1396. Some call the character creator the best ever, and others credit community creators whose mods improve and extend the game.

👎 Where it falls short

Pricing & Fairness ranks 1388th of 1399 and appears in 59% of analyzed reviews, where the complaints focus on price and the cost of expansions. Tech & Support ranks 1202nd of 1399: 33 reviews say it is buggy despite constant patches, and 18 criticize developer support, some describing the same bugs promised fixes for a decade. Content Volume ranks 1027th of 1351, and others find the base game sparse without expensive expansions. A few also describe a repetitive loop of clicking dialogue options to raise stats.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“sarcastic complaint about predatory pricing model” · 223 reviews
“game helped escape into affirming world despite base game limitations” · 115 reviews
“Build Mode is engaging and creative” · 54 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 38% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +3.38 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “Build Mode is engaging and creative” · 54 reviews
Negative “worlds are incredibly small, misses open world Sims 3” · 2 reviews

Progression 12% · Difficulty 1% · Onboarding 3% · Strategy 6% · Controls & feel 4%

Plot, characters and the world

Not enough data — only 8% of reviews mention this.

World +0.97 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is

Story 1% · Characters 2%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 21% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -3.01 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “repetitive gameplay loop of clicking dialogue options and stat increases” · 8 reviews

Volume 16% · Replayability 3%

Graphics, art style, music and sound

Not enough data — only 4% of reviews mention this.

Visuals +1.52 · Graphics, art style, and animation

Audio 1%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 4% of reviews mention this.

Community +1.11 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 1% · Servers & Connection 1%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 59% of reviews · Bottom 1% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing -2.25 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Negative “sarcastic complaint about predatory pricing model” · 223 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 2% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 25% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.55 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “same bugs promised to fix for ten years, never-ending neglect” · 18 reviews
Positive “regular updates are making the game very good” · 1 review

Stability 26% · Performance 4%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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