Family Recipe System, difference between Small Business and Retail and more interesting discoveries!
It’s been an interesting week for EA and Maxis revealing the upcoming The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack. Just a few short hours after its announcement, @anadius reported about an incident of EA accidentally exposing an earlier build of the 18th Expansion Pack on Steam. Revealing hundreds of megabytes of in-development files.
Now, it’s worth noting that all the information you’ll see below belongs to a feature time capsule from August 2024. Which is from when these files supposedly date back to. We have a lot more to learn about the upcoming Pack with the next Gameplay reveal set for this month. Until then, let’s see what the developers have been cooking up!
Sims 4 Business & Hobbies Gameplay Leaks
Nordhaven World Lot Sizes
We have a full list of World Lot Sizes coming with The Sims 4 Business & Hobbies’ Nordhaven thanks to a discovery by @CBXSims! See all the Lot Sizes below:
Gammelvik:
- 15×20
- 20×20
- 20×20
- 20×20
- 30×20
- 50×40
Iverstad:
- 15×20
- 20×20
- 20×20
- 30×20
- 50×40
- 50×40
New Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Gameplay Discoveries
Newer discoveries about The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies revolve around random features coming with the pack. Including a new Pack-exclusive fear of being cancelled, “customer appreciation days” and more!
- Something called customer appreciation day?
- You can make jellybeans out of any harvestable
- New fear: Fear of being cancelled.
- “Family Recipes” system – pass down family recipes (Including new baked goods)
- Tattooing and Pottery Likes & Dislikes
- Jazz, Vintage, & Contemporary BB tags
- New stalls: Bakery & Crafts
- New mystery surrounding “Hoffmans” & “Loudens”
- Reward trait: Hidden Spice
Small Business Events & Business Perks
As you progress through running your small business you’ll be greeted with different “Chance Card” opportunities. Either rewarding you with business progress, reputation and simoleons or cursing you with negative buffs.
Business Events (Chance Cards)
- Computer virus
- Investment Grant
- Money Interview
- Competition
- Celebrity
- Tax Audit
- Online Review
- Fake Payment
Business Perks:
- Muscle Memory
- Store Pheremone
- Sway To Buy
- Schemer
- Dreamer
- Skilful
- Sleep
- SimoCoin
- Final Touch
Get Together Pack Integration
We now know the four group interaction activities that you’ll be able to customize with Clubs from The Sims 4 Get Together Expansion. There are four additional activities that Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies will provide for creating more personalized Clubs, including:
- Run Classes
- Offer Paid Mentoring
- Tattooing
- Pottery
Businesses in This Pack are “Light Retail”
There’s a reason Maxis keeps implying the word “Small Business” throughout the features of The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies expansion. And that’s because there are some constraints to running a Retail Business.
welp i think i found the only sales related thing in the entire ep files, which calls it “light retail”, checking for decoration slots, meaning this is where the actual retail business is being “superior”. you can only sell slottable items (clutter, crafts) nothing else
– @lunar_britney
what does bother me about the retail aspect of small businesses is that the customers will do this amazing, never seen before animation that every simmer at heart loves to witness when purchasing an item and walking away
– @lunar_britney
So if you’ve been looking to sell bigger objects like couches and chairs, you’ll still need The Sims 4 Get To Work Expansion for bigger retail store features.
Skill Classes
Did you know that there’s a great way of earning Simoleons by teaching classes in this Expansion Pack? Check out the full list of Cross-Pack Skill Classes coming!
Residental Rentals Do NOT Work with Small Business Lots
A feature that some simmers speculated about wanting to play with The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack seems to be put to rest with the latest leak. Player @lunar_britney discovered that there are clear limitations in the code that prevent you from creating a Small Business within a Residental Rental Lot.
To be fair though, a similar scenario was put in place with The Sims 2 Open For Business and Apartment Life. Although I am still hoping for additional feature improvements like we’ve gotten with a Lovestruck update that allowed for Penthouse Rental Lots.
What are your thoughts on everything new that leaked about The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion? Join the discussion below!
this expansion is about to become my favorite! when people realize how promising it is…
Same! People are not understanding how game changing this pack is going to be. It’s a repeat of the Get Together expansion pack where people were constantly complaining about the pack when it was announced because they didn’t understand how game changing the club system was. Nowadays it’s one of the most suggested expansions. This one will absolutely be the same way, people are just so blinded right now to it.
Let me laugh, who uses the group system in 2025, the most suggested extension is that of apartment living, so you are talking nonsense, tell me the hobbies of this extension, there is only pottery, making tattoos or candy, it is business, when you put hobbies in the plural in the name of this extension, players are entitled to have many hobbies for the whole family like free time in the sims 2. This is what is sorely lacking in this game, and here we are only sold small businesses, with a world ugly enough to justify the price, and that’s it. I am willing to hear that it is not just an update of get to work, it is not the same thing, but once again, there is a big problem with leisure, I do not accept that we speak of pastimes in the plural when there are practically none.
So many people use the club system. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean no one does lol. Stop trying to act like the real world is exactly how you imagine it in your head solely based on your lived experience. For Rent is absolutely no where near the most suggested pack for people, nowhere near it. The business system is completely different in this expansion versus the retail businesses in Get to Work. These are going to be service businesses, not just selling items. If you can’t see how crazy this will be in opening the door for more varied lots and businesses then I don’t know what to tell you. But I also don’t care to change your opinions because they don’t mean anything to me. Be as bitter and angry as you want, doesn’t affect me in the slightest or my enjoyment of the game.
CORRECTAMUNDO
Like retails can be used fir Ikea lots. I kinda inagined retails as the big Stors like Saturn that sell Electronic. I think the limits will be few and who knews retails might just vecome botigues and Ikea es stores. That aculy be quite good.
Plus who knews mayby ther make ut do the Grocery store items from gewinnt ar comoatable eith Hobbys and buisnesses
Please tell me why this pack is so special (I’m not saying this to be sarcastic, I honestly want to know)? I really want to like this pack because of the retail system. I want it to be like TS2 Open For Business. But reading the negative comments are making me doubt how good this pack will actually be.
You really have very big mental problems, it’s not possible to be so stupid and idiotic to lick EA’s ass to this point, go see a doctor and stop being a sheep.
Honey, you have severe issues if you think it’s normal to speak that way to someone just because you disagree with their opinions lol Seek help immediately.
good luck, you will probably come back ranting about bugs
exactly! I keep rewatching the trailer and coming here to see any new articles or info; so excited for March 6th!
Business Events looks interesting. It gives game more challenges.
That’s no such thing as leaks. lol, they are told
and adonis works for EA.
Its from gamefiles
why would anadius offer an entire website for pirating TS4 if he’s directed to do things by EA maybe EA places files in locations, expecting they might get leaked. but they’re not TELLING anadius
I’m going to wait for a huge sale for this pack. It is not worth 40€
It’s gonna be fun trying to fit all these new businesses in these 12 lot worlds.
lmao the downvotes, best community. I agree though, there’s so little space for community lots in the newer worlds that they all end up feeling empty
you can only sell slottable items (clutter, crafts) nothing else
So if you’ve been looking to sell bigger objects like couches and chairs,
you’ll still need The Sims 4 Get To Work Expansion for bigger retail
store features.
Modders will fix that hopefully.
They shouldn’t have to
The small business part is interesting, it has some elements that I like, such as tax audit, false payment etc …, what bothers me is that there are practically no new hobbies, apart from pottery, why choose this name, small businesses were enough, we did not expect many new activities for our families, moreover tattoos are not a hobby, let’s not forget; these tattoos, often poorly done, tend to age badly. In addition, they are often done in poor hygiene conditions (beware of infections). When you tattoo, you make wounds on the skin, and this is not something trivial. That is why everything must be in good condition and use the specialized elements for this use.
Some people do this type of tattoo with sewing needles, without gloves and with correct sterilization. Nothing further from our recommendations!
Not only can these types of tattoos be a health risk, but they can also be borderline illegal. Not everyone can tattoo, and it can’t be done anywhere.
Tattooing always involves a lot of responsibility. So there is no hobby as the title of the extension says, apart from pottery, it doesn’t justify a title like that, it should have said business, at least, it would have been clearer and less misleading, I know that many people are excited about this extension, I understand it, on the business part, but recognize that there are no new hobbies.
I am so, so, so excited for this pack! I am seeing some very fair arguments here & elsewhere online regarding the title including “hobbies”, small world and lot sizes, comparing this pack to GTW, and the newly discovered info about small business “limitations”. This expansion packs adds only two hobbies, but they still provide so much gameplay and depth we have yet to see in any of the Sims series. Sure, we had pottery making in TS2 Freetime and tattoos in TS3 Ambitions. But with this fully customizable new Tattoo system, ability to upload custom tats to the gallery, and owning and running our own tattoo parlor, one can still say this is a gamechanger in so many different ways. I for one love any EPs that actually EXPAND on our gameplay, and even with only two new hobbies, the new Skill Classes and Small Business feature EXPANDS on hobbies we already have in base game and other packs. Think of painting, handiness, guitar, mixology, fishing, piano, cooking, photography and more! You can teach and charge for mastery classes, sell your handmade crafts, and even charge entry or hourly fees for others coming to use your venue or business to carry out their shared passions. Think outside of the box; comedy clubs, dance studio, private piano lessons, art school, woodwork shops, repair services, computer classes, cooking classes, and soo much more! And these are just base game ideas that I’ve named here; if you own multiple (or all packs like me), it opens sooo many more opportunities and expands even more on the pre-existing hobbies and skills that come with different packs. As for the small world and lot sizes, I personally don’t think of it as much of a negative because I rarely use large lots, but for those who do and need the space or to have different lot types, this pack also includes the ability to have Small Business lot types that can serve more than one purpose by pre-setting the business activities. You can have a cafe, library, art studio, park, gym, etc all on one lot by placing what activities you want and setting the necessary items for sims to use! Lastly, the comparison to GTW makes sense only when you are looking at the retail aspect. This pack focuses more on small businesses, whereas GTW included three active careers and the ability to run your own retail shop, but the retail wasn’t the sole focus of that pack. This pack expands on business, making a profit out of the new and existing in-game hobbies, and even more that we have yet to discover until we actually see more gameplay footage or play ourselves! I fully cannot wait to explore this pack and feel like it’s one of the few expansion packs that will actually expand and further enhance our gameplay! This looks very promising!
Also, think of all of the POSSIBILITIES awaiting us in the gallery once all of our creative members of the Sims community begin building and uploading their creations! There will be such exciting new multi-use lots and everyone will find different uses and options for what can be built and done! We have very talented players who will flourish with this pack and create endless ideas for us all to use in game! I also forgot to mention that the Residential Rental not being included in the home Small Business option isn’t surprising, especially if you are like me or the author of this article and have played TS2: Open for Business where you couldn’t start up a home business in an apartment. I look forward to having my sim start off a home business in their small starter home then eventually expand to a small business lot that they can pass down to their future generations. We even get to pass down family recipes with this new EP!
not to mention more ownable base game business lots like gyms, bars, lounges, nightclubs, museums, pools, etc.
and cross-pack ownable lots like theaters, spas, rec centers, cafes, salons, thrift & bubble tea, bathhouses, karaoke bar, bowling arenas, arcades, and more!
Why are we paying money for base game content?
And why on earth are you treating Bars, Lounges, and Nightclubs like they’re different things. I wasn’t true in 2014 and it’s STILL not true in 2025
good thing you’re not forced to buy it, respectfully. im stating the different lot types you will be able to own because they are literally in game separate lot types, regardless of what they’re deemed to be irl. i don’t view bars and clubs to be same in or outside of the game btw; totally diff vibes imo. if you don’t like this upcoming pack that we haven’t even saw any deep dive or real gameplay footage of just yet, then that is perfectly fine 🙂 different strokes for different folks
Résultat de traduction
I don’t understand people who already love this extension, there are no hobbies, saying that tattooing is one is wrong, there are hygiene and safety rules to avoid infections, doing it as an amateur is practically illegal. Where is the dancing, the mechanics, the team football, the tennis, it was also the opportunity to put hotels in family businesses, at this point, we will no longer have them. I read someone say that we were blind not to see that this extension was going to change everything, I dream. Spending 40 dollars just to get tattoos, I’m tired of this community that buys everything, even if it’s empty, you just have to give them one new thing and it’s good, they buy at full price, without worrying about the rest of the extension.
So, we have a pack called “Businesses and Hobbies” with two hobbies and no businesses
Good job EA
I do fully without a doubt agree that this pack should have included at least 2-3 more varieties of hobbies rather than just tats and pottery. I could see even expanding on the very limited music types we have currently, like this could have been the perfect opportunity to bring back drums, introduce instruments never before seen in the Sims series, and so forth. maybe we can get an update soon (base game and free ofc) to categories like music and even woodworking? like more woodworking craftables and projects for sure. and some new nature hobbies like we had in TS2 Freetime would be nice, or even better collectibles added and expanded on as a hobby. This surprise we are getting on the 25th could potientally be extra hobbies as an update since it’s coming out on a Tuesday; fingers crossed 🙂