Brand New Information on Businesses & Hobbies!

We’re just over two weeks away from the launch of The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack, and with the release drawing ever closer we were treated to a 7-minute-long gameplay trailer today! It can be a lot to take in, but I’ve got you covered with all the new information. Let’s dive into the trailer!

Nordhaven – A Whole New World

A new fantastic point of view? Potentially. In recent years The Sims team have treated us to a number of European-inspired worlds, and this time we’re heading North to the Scandinavian-inspired world, somewhere The Sims team haven’t touched on since Aurora Skies on The Sims 3 Store.

The trailer opened with a beautiful shot of Gammelvik, the world’s “old town”. This is home to new market stalls including Gramma Hattie’s Bakery Stall. Gramma Hattie is a returning character from The Urbz for GBA and DS! The world takes inspiration from cities such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Oslo. Speaking of Copenhagen, there seems to be a new mermaid-type statue reminiscent of The Little Mermaid statue that has sat on Copenhagen’s waterfront since 1913 in memory of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen! You can learn more about the available lot sizes in our recent article, discovered in a developer build of the game from August 2024.

Business Lot Types – Work From Home

Two new lot types were shown to us in the Businesses & Hobbies gameplay trailer. First up we have the Residential (Small Business) lot, a new lot type that functions as a residential and commercial lot in one. This means your Sims don’t have to travel far in order to open their business for the day or keep an eye on their employees. This also allows Sims on a tight budget to not have to go through the hassle of securing funds for a separate lot.

The second new lot type is the Small Business Venue. This lot can be purchased in addition to your Sims’ home lot, similar to how restaurants function in The Sims 4 Dine Out and Vet Clinics in The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs do. In build mode, you can choose which rooms are accessible by the public, which are designated as employee only, and which can just be entered by your household (or those you invite in).

Business Options – Setting Up Shop

Players who own The Sims 4 Get Together may be familiar with some of these features from the club system – but in The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies, it has been retooled to allow you full control over your businesses. You can choose from a list of presets to allow the game to select a list of customer activities for you such as gyms, nightclubs, and libraries. There has been talk about Businesses & Hobbies featuring a lot of cross-pack gameplay, so expect venues such as Spas to also be available to those who own The Sims 4 Spa Day Game Pack. It has been confirmed however that Residential Rentals and Restaurants cannot be run on Small Business lots thanks to some code discovered by LunarBritney. In addition to choosing presets you can also choose your own activities including playing instruments, fixing objects, buying and selling, and much more.

What would a business be without branding? Players can choose from various logos to represent their business and also give it a name and description. Players can also choose their target customers. This could include sims who have the evil trait if you wanted to run a cafe for criminals. Or maybe you want to target children to shop at your candy store. There is also an occult option that allows you to pick which occults show up. This is perfect for players who want to recreate Vladius’ Organ school for vampires and werewolves seen in the trailer!

Employees – A Helping Hand

Returning from The Sims 4 Get To Work and The Sims 4 Dine Out is the ability to hire (and fire) up to three employees for your business. Unlike the previous business-related packs this system seems to have more depth. You can choose exactly which activities an employee does during their work day and how much you pay them to do that. Want to hire Nancy Landgraab to play the guitar for 10 hours a day on minimum wage? Well, you can do exactly that! We don’t know as of the release of this trailer for Businesses & Hobbies if managers will be able to send Sims to training when they are not at work to improve their employee skill levels. Alongside the list of hireable townies, you also have the choice to hire family members. This can have negative effects if they perform poorly and you end up firing them!

Perk Points – The Perks of Being a Business-Sim

Also returning in Businesses & Hobbies is the ability to gain and spend perk points. These can be spent in three different categories: Schemer, Neutral, and Dreamer! Players who prefer chaos may enjoy investing in the Schemer branch and unlocking the ability to start fires on their lot to claim the insurance money. Be warned that family members and friends who witness this may not be too happy with your newfound enjoyment of arson! Another perk is being able to invest in Simocoin, a new in-game cryptocurrency that can be mined from your Sims PC and both bought and sold as it goes up and down in value. As most financial regulators would say: Never invest more (simoleons) than you are willing to lose!

Classes – Back to School!

Skill classes were announced back in the reveal trailer and we have since had more info on exactly what classes our sims can both host and attend. These classes can be held on any community lot it seems, as well as on residential and commercial business lots. Hosting a lesson will attract Sims who want to improve their skills from Sims who already have attained a high level in said skill. There are a tonne of new skills classes – and that list grows bigger the more packs you own. The trailer used The Sims 4 Knifty Knitting Stuff Pack as an example. Sims attending the class may also use a related skill-building object as they listen to the class.

If you are hosting the class you will have a number of goals to complete until the class is over. Attendees who enjoy the class, and if your host Sim has fulfilled enough goals, then the attendees will pay. If you are at a low skill level or didn’t complete enough goals then they will not pay.

Mentors – A Masterclass in Simming

Mentors are Sims who have mastered different skills and have the ability to pass their knowledge on to others. This can be done at a cost or can be offered for free. This will give the target Sim a boost in that skill – more so than if they were to read a skill book or use a skill-related object on their own. Skill Mastery Perks are a new system that allows Sims to unlock new abilities. Mastery Skill Perks are earned through the persistent use of skill-related interactions and Elder Sims can pass these on to other Sims using the new “Bestow” interaction.

Ticket Kiosk – Pay To Enter

The Ticket kiosk is a returning item, last seen in The Sims 2 Open For Business Expansion Pack. These can be placed on your residential or commercial business lots and will charge Sims a fee when they visit. This can be set as a one-time purchase, or Sims can pay by the hour. This allows venues such as Cinemas, Daycares, and Gyms to be player-owned, or can be placed on other community lots for realism. The price, however, may affect customer satisfaction and can have an effect on the reviews they may leave if your business isn’t worth the entry fee!

Pottery – Give it a Spin

We already knew pottery was included in the pack, however, the gameplay trailer for Businesses & Hobbies has given us more insight into what is possible. Your Sim can choose from a number of different objects to create on the pottery wheel (depending on their level of course). Once they have completed their design they can take it over to the glazing station and choose which design to paint their item with. The Japanese art of Kintsugi is also available. This is the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold or silver to make the repair a part of its history, as opposed to disguising it. Once your glaze is chosen you can pop your item in the kiln and once it is ready you can display, gift, or even sell your product. Items such as gnomes, cake stands, planters, and oil burners can be made, with many of the crafted pottery items being functional rather than purely decorative.

Tattooing – Getting Inked

Alongside Pottery comes tattooing. While tattoos have been available since the release of The Sims 4, our Sims have only been able to acquire these in Create A Sim. The new tattoo parlour business can be run by your artistically inclined Sims or be visited by others to get inked. We have known about the customisable tattoos since the reveal, however, today’s trailer gave us insight into the new Gallery category where players will be able to upload and download designs to use in Create A Sim. Sims who are requesting a new tattoo can dedicate a tattoo to someone such as their partner or friend. This may be regrettable if the relationship doesn’t last! Don’t worry as cover-ups and removals are available for those who regret their hastily made decision.

As a tattoo artist, levelling up your skill will unlock new stamps and stencils to play with when designing a new tattoo before testing them out on paying clients. Be careful though as Sims with a low level in tattooing may leave your clients disappointed and a bad review left for the world to see. Touch-ups can also be done on Sims who request it!

Release Information

The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies is set to release on March 6th on PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles. Those who purchase through April 18th 2025 will unlock the Set Up Shop Digital Content.

What are your thoughts on The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion so far? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments! For all Sims 4 updates and future info on EP18 stay tuned!