Failed Pop Star Collaboration, Potential Sims 4 World Packs And Project X Development News

Failed Pop Star Collaboration, Potential Sims 4 World Packs And Project X Development News

By Jovan 36 5 min read
News Project X Speculation & Rumor The Sims 4
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The new insider gossip on The Sims Franchise developments are here.

The good old reliable Sims insider becomes even more reliable after the recent announcement of The Sims 4 Clueless X Mean Girls Capsule Kits.

In case you missed out on the Sims Insider news, back in June 2026 the insider posted a new clue on ATRL regarding the potential Sims 4 Collaboration Kit Bundle, giving out two major hints in the same paragraph. One for the Clueless Kit and the other referring to the Burn Book from the movie Mean Girls.

"I'd love to give a hint, but I'm clueless about what it could be, I'm sure it will be one for the book (flame emoji).".

Today they're back with new Sims insider gossip and development updates on several fronts. Here's everything they've stated broken down in several aspects and franchise projects:

TALKING PATTERN

New Sims Insider Gossip

Failed Pop Star Collab

I can also confirm there were neverrrrrrrreeeennnnnddddiiiiinggggg negotiations with a certain pop star (who has contributed to the Sims 4 before) but I believe they didn't go through due to the controversy around the EA Buyout and they didn't want to be part of it. Don't know what they were, other than that persons team started them after their previous Sims 4 contribution got some buzz on TikTok when the artist posted about it.

The Sims Project X Graphics Shift

Some more information I received is EA are wanting the team to be more conservative with the system requirement targets for Project X as they believe it may not be accessible enough to a wider audience. Apparently they were targeting gaming cards only, whereas EA would like them to consider integrated graphics and ARM processors.

So that first flop...how did it feel?

The free Marketplace drops didn't do very much for increasing Marketplace sales which EA is disappointed in. So they will be trialing other ways to make the Marketplace profitable and hitting the financial targets they've set which it hasn't so far. Engagement with the Marketplace is high but it doesn't translate to sales.

Possibility of Sims 4 World Packs

EA were also questioning whether more worlds for the game might be worthwhile, some kind of world pack. They were looking at selling 2 - 3 neighbourhoods, with some small amounts of build buy in each set, but were unsure if the demand is there for more worlds or whether it's better to save those ideas for X DLC.

Project X Release

I asked about a release date. I didn't get any real answer other than "nothing set in stone, unless a deadline is enforced" and they can't tell how far along other parts of the team are, but the team they're in is on track at this stage but they've heard mixed things from other teams.

I think that's everything I talked with them about


Breaking it all down

The recent release of The Sims 4 Music Den Kit is starting to make more sense now that it feels like it's missing a big pop star to promote it. According to the insider, the deal / partnership collaboration fell through due to the EA Buyout. Was it meant to be Chappel Roan? Charli XCX? Carly Rae Jepsen? Zara Larsson? I guess we won't know for certain ever...or yet...

It's Zara Larsson

ARTICLE UPDATE: However, we did receive more clues towards who refused the alleged Pop Star Collaboration opportunity. Polish website DotSim informed us of a Zara Larsson video on TikTok that surfaced July 2025 where the artists answered to a question about one of her new songs being added to The Sims 4. Zara answered "Hopefully soon" to the prompt of Midnight Sun being redone in Simlish, while also revealing that she's already done a song in Simlish for The Sims 4 Island Living release. It matches with everything that the insider stated, including the hints such as "neverending" and a sun emoji being used in the ATRL post message.

Watch the full TikTok that Zara Larsson posted in July 2025 below:

The Sims Project X

In terms of The Sims Project X news, EA appears to pull the rug again with catering to a broader range of graphic cards and processors. Not saying that making Project X accessible on an ARM based computer is a bad thing considering these machines are starting to outperform even the biggest gaming PC builds of today. However taking integrated graphics into consideration might bring a round of feature cuts and big visual upgrades not looking so...big anymore.

ARTICLE UPDATE #2: The Sims insider clarified any suspicion on integrated graphic cards not being supportive of newer games with big features, stating the following:

Integrated graphics of today can run games like Cyberpunk, so I don't think you have too much to worry about.

Maxis themselves probably have an outdated view of integrated graphics for having to cater to Sims 4's requirements for so long, but they are fairly capable.

A lot of the reasons Sims 4's performance on laptops with even integrated graphics cards of today is the technology 4 was built on is simply outdated and doesn't take full advantage of current technology.

The Sims 4 can doesn't require much power at all to run, but the scale of performance doesn't improve with the scale of the hardware, so you may get a massive jump in hardware for your system but see only mild improvements.

Unfortunately all because the game has to support outdated architectures going back 15 years or even more, while also trying to be efficient with the hardware of today and it's a balancing act.

But a new game won't necessarily have those same issues.

What's up with The Sims 4 World Packs?

The talks of bringing new worlds through specific "World Pack" releases is surprising given the bleak release schedule of nothing else but Maker Packs and Kits for the unforseeable future. Internal talks suggest selling 2-3 neighborhoods with new Build / Buy for each set, but it's currently unknown to developers if there would be a demand for these type of releases.

What are your thoughts on the latest Sims speculation and insider talks on game development of current and future Sims projects? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned on Sims Community for more breaking Sims coverage!


36 Comments

  1. nigel

    ngl, if marketplace were offering new neighborhoods i would even consider buying it… of course, if the price wasn’t out of this world, like some things there, e.g. that one hairstyle pack

    1. Ernisha Byrd

      Reply to nigel

      I like if they bring back boarding school but make it so we can choose to travel as the kid or stay home as the parent and it should be like a hogwarts boarding school

    2. Ernisha Byrd

      Reply to nigel

      I haven’t seen a new free drop since July on marketplace I’m sitting here like did they stop dropping free stuff

  2. Pascal Fernandes

    Mhh world packs coukd help fix certain past issues like anew island could introduce surfing objects and so on

  3. Leo3487

    That part about the buyout controversy is a filter for the search
    a pop artist that did collab with The Sims 4 and is LGBTQ+

  4. aaalucabalaca

    How are they surprised with Marketplace underperforming when almost everything released so far on it is bland and Alpha-CC looking?

  5. LB

    New neighbourhoods? A new world? Sounds interesting, this might pique my interest again after all those boring, beige, minimalist kit designs. Give us something exciting again! We are in a desperate need of more niche content.

  6. ll

    What I want are new neighborhoods for the already existing worlds, not entirely new worlds. I would love to see currently useless worlds like Magnolia Promenade, Forgotten Hollow, etc. expanded. Even the slightly bigger worlds like Ravenwood and Del Sol Valley really need to be expanded.

  7. Domirella

    I would prefer, they updated the old worlds. Swimming in ocean or seas, Walking paths, playgrounds

    And gameplay pack Updates Like they did it with the Wellness pack

    1. Simlishing

      Reply to Domirella

      This! I would love a refresh of these towns we already have

  8. Plumbopin

    The way I would eat world packs up. Please do them.

  9. SG52

    The marketplace might do better (on Xbox X at least) if the downloads weren’t in the reserved space. Xbox constantly needs the reserved space cleared to start the game, and it leads to having to re-download all of the Maker Packs. I’ve stopped re-downloading them and just stopped buying new ones. It’s not worth the hassle.

  10. Kace69

    That zara larsson song doesnt mean anything since lika a 100 other popstars have done songs for the sims. And that “insider” also hasnt provided any reliable information on project x. But we KNOW it’s a mess. This person has been platformed by this site for like a year and the only thing he’s been barely right about are kits.

  11. Micha Manuel

    Please add world packs to both Marketplace and EA App

  12. LB

    Yes, please! World packs would be a great and exciting addition to the game!

  13. Whitney

    Tbh new world packs are a nice concept, but we really need more gameplay objects as well. I don’t think world packs would be that intriguing without premium content like ts3 store worlds had. I would not be surprised if they were too greedy to even make a few new animations for it tho and still charge the insane ts3 store prices for it.

  14. Rabellaka

    I would love a new world or world pack. I’ve been saying for years that they should release them, like they have for Sims 3. But not for $30 like the Sims 3 store worlds would cost me! (CAD)

  15. NoCC All the Time

    I don’t know why TS3 players ever tolerated paying piecemeal for new worlds. These should be rolled into bigger packs, or free updates, or at least players should have the option of creating their own worlds. That being said, given this is the state we are in now, I would buy new world packs but not from the marketplace and not from creators.

    1. Sam

      Reply to NoCC All the Time

      TS3 had CAW which let anyone create a world as they please.
      TS3 store world’s came with plenty of new things to do that made it feel like actual content worth of a stuff pack with actual new gameplay.
      The pizza oven, playpen, stroller, … to just name a few.

      1. NoCC All the Time

        Reply to Sam

        Yeah, but you start paying for worlds as DLC (priced at CAD 30 for a world at that, as someone mentioned!) and it’s all downhill from there. Are we surprised the franchise ended up in a place where people are actually begging to be able to pay for 1 new world with no ability to create them ourselves and no guarantee of new gameplay objects? Why would the corporation give players means to circumvent what it has established it can successfully charge them for?

  16. Amoni

    World packs sound interesting. But in practice, I’d expect them to half-ass it by making them really small, made up mostly of recycled content, be mostly set dressing with almost no interactive features, and come with BB objects that have no gameplay. At best, I think the worlds might be Magnolia Promenade-tier, except slightly prettier and with a couple more lots.

  17. Sam

    Worlds only drops would be legit the ONLY thing that would make me use the marketplace. I refuse to use ir bur for beautiful worlds, I’d definitely give in. Though, I’d only be buying worlds and srill boycot all the other releases.

    I actually still am very surprised they never released a world for a stuff pack price since they used to do so during the Sims 3 era. Some of the TS3 worlds even had their own code-in-a-box releases in physical stores.

  18. Simlishing

    There sure won’t be demand for Sims 4 Towns with only 2-3 neighborhoods. But there will be if the towns have 4 to 6 neighborhoods tho…

    Also I never understood why The sims 4 abandonned Edit world gameplay. And I’m not talking about building each lot. I’m talk edit world Sims 2 style at least. With plenty of templates to choose from and then make our town while we can add lot whether they are community lot or residential

  19. Atreya

    A world pack could be interesting. If they are sold through the EA app. But it’s very late into the sims 4 lifetime. A lot of simmers are upset about bugs and the buyout. I wonder if this will be enough to get simmers back.

    I can’t believe the hints were there and no one noticed. Then again 20 and 30 year old movies aren’t the first possible collabs to come to mind.

  20. matrix54

    It’s entirely too late for World Packs. It makes no sense to pull out fan requests when sales are falling below expectations.

  21. Jeremia Lecato

    Ayo listen! If they do a World Packs, I better not be patient without a Caribbean-inspired world before the end of 2026.

  22. MsMoBear

    EA’s like “man, the marketplace didn’t hit like we thought it would (even though they were yelling at us about it). You know what will bring them back? Neighborhoods!”

    What’s an even better idea? Fixing the older worlds to be compatible with newer gameplay, like swimming in the water, riding horses, etc., as well as continuing to improve the game through bug fixes and maybe even revamping some older packs as well. If EA really wants to increase player happiness and respect, they’d be better served by showing good faith and improving upon the existing game. Then players *might* consider spending money. Shoving paid content down everyone’s throat will only work for select players who are willing to trade money for slop, but not many others, especially in the existing economy.

  23. StarlightEm

    If not for the buyout and the Marketplace microtransactions, I would love to buy world packs

  24. Jane

    I’d love world packs, but I’d love improving the game more. We already have worlds with few lots, stuff that needs fixing. They keep spending time to create new content to sell instead of using that time to improve the existing content to make the game better. Retention may’ve been better, thus resulting in less debt buildup over time.

    I mean, I surmise. I worked in loss prevention for a major retail company. Instead of managing the risk, it feels a lot like EA has contributed to their own shrink by continuing to spend time releasing packs quickly and contributing to preexisting shrink.

    So…world packs? Yes — eventually. Right now, I want my game to be less buggy.

  25. fever

    I cant believe people are ready to eat up worlds as dlcs. Like yall clearly dont know, or remember, the sims 3 worlds from the store. Like 40$ for one world???? This is how EA is gonna get to yalls money, and all the talk about boycott and what not is out off the window, cause i have a new setdressing babe…

    1. NoCC All the Time

      Reply to fever

      They’re so defensive about acknowledging they effed up in the first place by tolerating it.

  26. blubh

    I feel like I shouldn’t even mention being willing to buy ANYTHING at this point, but I’d be 100% on board with some world packs, especially if they include CAS/build mode items. (Basically just an expansion without new systems…)

  27. Jeremy

    I would love a new worlds pack, please make an Australian world and new updated seasons pack too! such a popular but long neglected pack!!!!!!!! new weather effects, weather radar, more localisation of weather in different parts of the world, drought, hail, floods, wind storms, frost, smoke, better smog etc.

  28. Anita Du Preez

    Oh I would absolutely go for world packs.
    There are so many gorgeous real life places that I would love to see some version of in my game.
    Hopefully it will be affordable.

  29. Ikke

    Don’t we have enough world already filled with ugly townies? I don’t know if I would need it. What I do need is an upgrade of the excisting worlds with the new features and instead of a new whatever; update the old events and venues with new activitities and stuff. Crosspack capability and basegameupdates in reverse… If they sold that as a pack; I would buy it. Sims4 “the update and upgrade base-kit”

  30. Redouane

    New worlds were literally the only reason I was even buying Expansion Packs.
    Gameplay can be improved with mods, but there are no other way to obtain new worlds.
    I always wished they would sell new worlds without game-breaking bugs-full gameplay additions attached.

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