Throughout its lifespan, it has become well known that The Sims 4 often reuses assets from the base game and older expansion packs to create “new” objects. In many cases, this form of recycling has felt justified or even clever, such as the kitchen set from City Living, which presents a cheaper, more worn-down alternative to the base game’s standard kitchen.

However, the latest expansion seems to take this strategy a step further. With The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Objects, a significant portion of the newly released content appears to rely heavily on recycled assets from older kits and packs, sometimes with minimal changes. Pointed out first by player @lunar_britney, and later explored in more depth in a video by @CozyMarccu. This increased level of recycling makes the reuse far more noticeable than in previous releases and has sparked discussion among players about how much of the pack truly feels new.

Since the first gameplay trailers for The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy were released, the Sims community has speculated that the brand-new Dynasties system might be built on top of the existing Clubs system from Get Together. This suspicion was later confirmed with the release of early-access gameplay videos from content creators.

Reusing systems or assets is not necessarily a bad thing, and recycling has long been part of how The Sims 4 evolves. When handled well, this approach can be cost-effective and allow developers to focus on polishing other areas of the game. However, with The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Objects, the extent of this recycling feels far more noticeable, raising questions about how much of the expansion truly brings new content to the table.

Build & Buy Recycling in The Sims 4: Royalty & Legacy Objects

Here are all the new Expansion Pack items that appear to reuse or closely replicate assets from previous packs and the base game.

Thanks to The Sims Creator Program for the early access code

After comparing multiple objects side by side, a clear pattern starts to emerge. While asset reuse has always been part of The Sims 4’s development strategy, the Royalty & Legacy objects feel far more noticeable due to how closely many of the new objects mirror existing ones. In several cases, the silhouettes, proportions, and decorative details remain almost unchanged, with differences relying mainly on recolors, minor texture tweaks, or small ornamental additions.

This makes the reuse feel less like a clever reinterpretation and more like straightforward recycling, especially when multiple items follow the same approach. On their own, these similarities might be easy to overlook, but taken together, they raise valid questions about how much of the pack’s object catalog truly offers something new versus repackaging what players already have.

The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Continues Recycling Gameplay Features

The “gameplay” found in some The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy buildings, such as the lighthouse located in Verdemar, is literally the same as the one in Brindleton Bay. We already know both lighthouses are the same build, but it would have been nice to see at least some new interaction or unique feature to justify its return, right?

When looking closely at the Dynasties system introduced in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy, it becomes difficult not to draw parallels with the Clubs system from Get Together. Both systems rely on a very similar foundation: a structured group of Sims, defined membership, specific values or behaviors, and passive bonuses that influence how Sims act while part of that group.

In the case of Clubs, these mechanics made sense as a flexible social tool, but with Dynasties, one of the core features of the expansion, the expectations were naturally higher. While reframing the system to represent noble lineages and family power works thematically, the underlying mechanics and interface feel strikingly familiar, giving the impression that this is more of a recontextualized Clubs system than a fully new gameplay layer built from scratch.

In the end, recycled content isn’t the issue on its own; how it’s leveraged makes all the difference. In The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy, reused systems and features don’t always translate into noticeably richer gameplay, often feeling familiar rather than expanded. By contrast, The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits showed how existing frameworks could be pushed further, introducing a wide range of gameplay-focused objects and new skills, even when some mechanics, like retreats, closely mirrored business systems from packs such as Businesses & Hobbies. When recycling is used as a foundation for deeper interaction and progression, it can enhance the experience; when it isn’t, it simply becomes more visible.

Do you feel that recycled content in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy is being used to meaningfully expand gameplay, or does it feel more like familiar systems repackaged? Let us know what you think in the comments.