The Sims™ 4

Free-to-play life simulation about creating Sims, homes, and stories

Maxis · Published by Electronic Arts · Released Jun 18, 2020

Adventure Casual Simulation Free To Play

Reviews: Very Positive; 86% of 201K
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 82% of 1,618 in 30 days
Playing now: 15K; peak 24h 20K
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 1 week ago; Sep 15, 2026

What is The Sims™ 4?

A single-player sandbox life simulation where you create and customize Sims, build and decorate homes, and guide their daily lives. Sims can explore neighborhoods, form relationships, pursue careers, and work toward personal goals.

For you if...

+you enjoy open-ended life simulation and self-directed stories
+you like designing characters, homes, and neighborhoods
+you want a relaxed single-player sandbox

Not for you if...

−you prefer structured goals over open-ended sandbox play
−you expect substantial base content without paid add-ons

What players say

86% of 200,519 reviews are positive · 82% of 1,618 in the last 30 days

Players most often praise the building tools, character creation, and freedom to design homes and stories. Their main complaints are the extensive, expensive DLC catalog, a base game they find sparse or repetitive, persistent bugs, and reliance on mods. Recent reviewers also criticize the addition of an in-game marketplace with virtual currency.

Screenshots and trailer

The Sims™ 4 system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: 64 Bit Required. Windows 10
Processor: 3.3 GHz Intel Core i3-3220 (2 cores, 4 threads), AMD Ryzen 3 1200 3.1 GHz (4 cores) or better
Graphics: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Storage: 26 GB available space
DirectX: Version 11

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: EA online activation and EA app software installation and background use required.
Third-party account: EA Account (Supports Linking to Steam Account)
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows
Steam features: Trading cards, In-app purchases

Steam Deck: Playable

Default controller config not fully functional
Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
Some in-game text is small and may be hard to read
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
First time setup requires active internet connection
Singleplayer gameplay requires active internet connection

Multiplayer and co-op

Single-player

Languages

Text only: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Swedish, Finnish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean.