EA urges that you backup your save files for a big patch scheduled next week.

In a surprising announcement from The Sims Direct Communications team on Twitter, we’ve gotten a confirmation about the release of the next Sims 4 Update. The surprise part of the announcement is that it’s a week and two days earlier from the next Expansion Pack release.

It seems that Maxis is preparing beforehand to squash additional bugs for both Base Game and Life and Death Expansion a few days before the release of the Pack. Making it seem like the perfect time frame window to prepare for both the new Sims 4 Base Game features and provide a more stabile experience for the Life & Death Expansion release.

Here’s what we know about the official update so far:

Official Sims 4 Update Announcement

The first confirmation about the next Sims 4 Update comes directly from The Sims Direct. Reporting that the next Sims 4 Patch is set to come out on October 22nd, 2024 at 10AM PT. Both Desktop and Console platforms are expected to be updated at the same time too!

Official Patch Statement

On Tuesday, Oct 22, a big base game update is coming to The Sims 4. If you use game mods & custom content, you may want to remove and backup save files. This will also give creators time to update their content to prevent potential in-game issues.

We have shared the relevant TDESC file in The Sims Discord for mod creators to access & start updating their mods here.

Additionally, we’re working on resolving the reported issues tied to the Reaper’s Rewards Events. Due to the varying details around each report, we’ve consolidated the issues to support the team in their investigations.

Update Release

The next Sims 4 Patch release has already been set! You should expect the new version of the game to be installed on your platforms on October 22nd at 10AM PT. To make things easier we’ve included a handy countdown to the exact update release:

Countdown to The Sims 4 Update Release

Confirmed Update Features

New CAS Personality Icon

The new gameplay trailer for The Sims 4 Life & Death has shown an additional hexaon next to the Aspirations icon menu. Some simmers are speculating that it could be related to the bucket list or some other features tied exclusively to the new Expansion Pack, but there’s a real possibility that it could be a part of the upcoming Sims 4 Update.

Occult Selector in CAS

This finding comes from modder @ZerbuTabek who datamined the new instance files shared by The Sims Team. In which he found new text strings and codes relating to an “Occult Selector” in The Sims 4 Create A Sim.

It may finally be possible to change occult types in CAS! There’s new code related to an “occult button” that wasn’t there before. This might be a button to change occult types.

This means that we’ll very likely now be allowed to change through different occults to the Sim we’re currently editing.

Mermaid Tombstones and Urns

SimGuruNinja shared an image preview of what the new Mermaid Tombstones and Urns are going to look like after the latest Sims 4 Update. Up until now players who owned The Sims 4 Island Living Expansion had a regular tombstone and urn for the Mermaid occult form.

Check out the preview below:

Creator @ArdoSims has also added in an excellent preview of all the Occult Tombstones we have now in The Sims 4 series. Updated with the new Mermaid objects!

sims 4 graves — All The Sims 4 Tombstones (2024 Update) / Image source

Choose Ghost Color in an Instance!

Ghosts get a cute addition for free with the next Sims 4 Update. Allowing you to shift through the colors of your ghosts in the same way you switch light color and intensity for light objects!

More to be announced!

Both the developers and the tarot card readings from The Sims 4 Roadmap Release in September are teasing that there’s more to the free Sims 4 Update.