The Sims 4 news & patch notes

Hi Simmers!

Welcome to the Laundry List, where we share the fixes and features we’re working on for our July 21 Base Game update. This month we’re introducing a new AutoSave to The Sims 4, and rolling out Memory Boost to Mac and console players to improve overall performance for more Simmers, plus continuing to fix the top-reported issues from players via EA Forums. 

Join us on July 14 for a special Dev Q&A in The Sims Discord, where members of the development team will talk through these updates, and answer questions live.

The Sims Team

Coming to The Sims 4 on July 21

AutoSave and Save Reminders

From big life moments to everyday chaos, every Sim story deserves to be saved. With the July 21 update, we're introducing AutoSave and Save Reminders to help protect your progress while you play.

Whether you're spending hours in Build Mode or guiding your Sims through their next adventure, these new features make it easier to keep your stories safe so you can focus on what comes next.

AutoSave works quietly in the background, automatically creating save points at key moments while you play. You can customize when AutoSave happens in Game Save Settings, with options like saving after traveling between lots, after a period of playtime, or at important gameplay milestones. If you'd rather stay in control, Save Reminders like the friendly (or slightly grumpy) gnome notification below can prompt you to create a manual save at the frequency you choose. Together, these features help reduce the risk of lost progress while giving you the flexibility to save the way you want.

Memory Boost is Coming to all Platforms

Whether you're playing with a bustling household, building your dream home, or returning to a save that's been with you for years, smoother gameplay means more time enjoying your stories. That's why we're introducing Memory Boost in the July 21 update across all platforms.

Memory Boost improves how The Sims 4 manages memory while you play, helping deliver a smoother experience with reduced lag, improved frame rates and responsiveness, shorter loading times, and a lower risk of memory-related crashes.

Players may notice the biggest improvements during longer play sessions, in large households, on highly decorated lots, and in older save files. While Memory Boost isn't a dedicated save repair feature, it can also improve save stability and help reduce some memory-related save issues.

Want to learn more? Read our deep dive on Memory Boost.

Bug Fixes

This month, much of our effort went into delivering new features like Memory Boost, Auto Save, and the Save Reminder system, which meant we tackled fewer individual bug fixes than usual - but these improvements build an important foundation for what's ahead. We'll have more to share as we get closer to September, and in the meantime, here's what we've addressed in the July 21 update:

• Last patch, we added new Festival Notification toggles in the Options menu. In this patch, we’ve added a new toggle for Nordhaven Hobby Meetups. 

• \ We’ve resolved an issue where parts of a roof, or entire roof sections, could disappear when viewing upper floors in Build Mode. Roof pieces should now remain visible and render correctly regardless of the selected floor level.  

• \ We tested reports of corrupted lots appearing in saves with many Residential Rentals. With Memory Boost now available and enabled for all players, we can no longer reproduce this issue in any of the affected saves we collected. 

Upcoming Quality-of-Life Updates

Over the past six months, our Quality of Life team has remained focused on delivering improvements driven by community feedback while continuing to strengthen the overall health of The Sims 4. Across multiple game updates, we've addressed many of the community's most-voted issues - from gameplay systems and Sim behaviors to UI, routing, Build/Buy, and Create a Sim fixes - alongside hundreds of additional bug fixes and quality improvements. We've also made meaningful investments in the game's long-term stability and performance, including reducing simulation lag, improving save stability for larger and more complex saves, and introducing features like Memory Boost, AutoSave, and Save Reminders to make everyday gameplay smoother, more reliable, and more resilient.

Our work doesn't stop here. The next major Quality of Life update, coming in September, is focused on improving general Sim autonomy - making Sims behave more intelligently, consistently, and responsively across everyday gameplay. It's another step in our ongoing commitment to making The Sims 4 feel smoother, more reliable, and more enjoyable every time you play. We'll have more to share about the September update as we get closer to release.

For all the latest news, follow Sims Direct on X and join our Discord community - we’ll share updates as they’re available.

Thank you for your patience and for all the helpful reports. Please keep posting any issues you encounter on The Sims 4 EA Forums. We’ll keep checking in, and together we’ll make this game the best it can be.

Key Takeaways

• Clearing the noise: Players now have more control over live-mode notifications. They can set the festival alerts they want to see. There are fewer repetitive phone calls, fewer unnecessary interruptions, and more relevant social interactions that make more sense story-wise.

• We've implemented bug fixes for twelve of the most player-voted issues

• Mac users will enjoy changes addressing Infinite Load issues and graphical flickering

• This patch is working magic with fixes for visual and crashing issues with occults in three packs

See the full update here.

Simmers,

Today’s Laundry List brings some helpful quality-of-life updates, including improvements to Live Mode notifications and phone calls, fixes for community-reported issues, save integrity updates for Mac players, and more.

You can expect to see all of the above in our next Base Game update on June 30.

Read the full list here:

https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/laundry-list-june-23-2026

And join us on June 23 at 1pm PT for a special Dev Q&A in The Sims Discord to hear more and chat with the team.

SimSearch is one of the latest improvements to The Gallery, designed to make it easier for Simmers to find the creations they're looking for.

We've noticed many players are still searching using single words and keywords. While that works, SimSearch can do much more.

With Cross-Language Search and Text-to-Image Search, you can describe what you're looking for instead of relying on an exact title, hashtag, or creator name.

Try searches like:

• Big red house

• Ghosts

• Metal fence

• Petite maison bleue

You may discover creations from Simmers around the world, even if they were uploaded in a different language.

The best way to use SimSearch is to get creative. Try searching by colors, styles, objects, themes, architectural features, or even a specific mood or atmosphere. The more you experiment, the more hidden gems you'll uncover from the Sims community.

SimSearch is currently in Beta, and we're continuing to improve it based on player feedback.

What improvements would you like to see next in The Gallery? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Sul Sul! Looking for a new way to challenge your Sims? 👻

Last month, our community on The Sims forums took on the Cowplant Challenge. This month, we're bringing the fun to Steam with a Grimathon! Your goal is to play the ultimate All Deaths Challenge by having your Sims complete each and every death type. If you're new to our community challenges, don't worry, there are plenty of creative ways to help your Sims meet a dramatic end. And for those returning from the Cowplant Challenge, your Grimathon journey is just getting started. 😈

Where can I find a list of all death types? Check out our full EA Help guide on all the different death types and how to achieve them here! 

How do I bring a Sim back from the dead? Accidentally killed off your favorite Sim? Don’t panic! There’s a few different ways to bring your beloved Sim back to life detailed in the EA Help guide here.

Share your screenshots and let us know how many different deaths you achieved! 

For A Masquerade Ball to Rival Them All

• The Bridgerton House Gazebo, for clandestine encounters worthy of Benedict and Sophie
• The Bridgerton House Piano, for tender declarations that might stir even Francesca…
• And for those with dreams of a growing household, a Bundle of Joy Bassinet, like one you may see for Penelope and Colin

A Most Fashionable Affair

The Invitation Extends Further Still…

The Social Calendar*

• May 12 marks the beginning of the masquerade festivities, with a limited-time login event.
• On May 19, the game is afoot! Ton shall gather to revel in the latest trends.
• Then, by May 26, it is time to prepare for the evening, as the season’s finery comes fully into view.
• June 2nd, host the event of the season, meet all the most eligible of the ton, and make sure you wear your heart on your sleeve.

Heya Simmers! Cade back with another Laundry List.

Hey Simmers,

I’m Cade from The Sims Community team.

We’re working on Quality of Life improvements around food, drinking, and dining, and we want your input. What’s working, what’s not, and what needs the most attention?

We’re specifically looking for feedback on:

• Sims eating (together or not)

• Sims drinking (we know about “Always Thirsty” and that fix is coming in mid-May)

• Dine Out, what would make it better?

• Biggest dining issue you’ve noticed

• Dining overall

Please do try and keep feedback constructive, any specifics I can take back to the team will be helpful. We’ll be reading everything and using it to shape what we tackle next.

Thanks!

Sul Sul!

Infants, Toddlers, and general Sim autonomy are the focuses of our upcoming Base Game update in May. Watch for the Laundry List in very early May. We’re also currently in final testing for a fix for the Secret Witness sentiment issue and expect it to be included in our Base Game update in May. We’re also wrapping up work on resolving reports of the Scandal icon not dismissing properly, which is likewise targeted for the May update. Thanks for your patience while we worked through these! Secret Witness: https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims-4-bug-reports-en/rl-secret-witness-guilty-sentiment-without-reason/13189160 Scandal icon: https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims-4-bug-reports-en/rl-scandal-icon-not-going-away-when-clearedmoodlet-time-getting-longer/13185522

Sul Sul, Simmers!

• The Sims 4 Team

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the game could crash on launch for 2% of players using specific types of custom content, under certain circumstances.

• Resolved an issue that caused a main menu message to appear more frequently than intended.

We've been investigating the "Failed to launch game" error message & have been tracking via EA Forums at the link below.

We're working on a fix & testing it over the weekend to resolve this ASAP, currently targeting a patch early next week. We'll update you as we can.

https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims-4-bug-reports-en/failed-to-launch-error-when-using-cc/13264167/

Sul Sul, Simmers!

We’ve just released a new Quality of Life update that brings over 60 quality-of-life bug fixes and improvements, many of which address top-voted issues from the community. Here’s what’s included:

• Eye and eyelid improvements

• Prom event fixes

• Smarter Sim autonomy

• Pets and other animals will no longer disappear or get stuck in Sim inventories

• And much more!

Read the full patch notes here:

https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/update-3-17-2026

Plus: • Marketplace is now available in-game as of March 17th, featuring Maker Packs for Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy content.

• A small patch rolled out yesterday, March 18th, which resolves issues affecting Custom Content (CC) and Mods. Thanks for your reports and patience while we worked on these fixes. Find the full notes here:

https://forums.ea.com/blog/the-sims-game-info-hub-en/custom-content-is-back-on-the-menu/13263964

You can make sure your mods are up to date here:

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-4-mods-and-custom-content-en/broken-and-updated-sims-4-mods-and-cc-patch-1-122-march-17-2026/13252814

Thanks for being part of our community.

The Sims™ 4 is celebrating community Makers with a new in-game Marketplace. Check out Create a Sim and Build/Buy items made by Simmers, for Simmers. The Marketplace is the official home of content from The Sims team and new Maker Packs! Visit today and browse for your next big find.

From the beginning, The Sims has been shaped by our community. This includes custom content creators, whose work helps players make every Sim, and every build, feel more personal.

We’re celebrating that creativity with the launch of The Sims Maker Program, alongside The Sims 4 Marketplace, a new in-game platform designed to support custom content creators, help more players discover their work alongside all The Sims 4 content.

Here’s how it all comes together:

• The Sims Maker Program is a new initiative that allows creators who specialize in custom content to publish officially to The Sims 4 in-game Marketplace. This introduces new ways for them to earn while bringing fresh content to all players around the globe, across every platform.

• The Sims 4 Marketplace is a brand-new in-game destination where players can discover, purchase, and play with official Maker Packs, as well as Expansion Packs, Game Packs, Stuff Packs and Kits created by The Sims team.

• Moola is The Sims 4 virtual currency that can be used to make purchases of both Maker Packs and The Sims 4 Kits in the Marketplace. Purchases of Maker Packs support the Makers. 

• The Sims 4 Marketplace launches in-game on PC and Mac on March 17, 2026. The feature will roll out to PlayStation and Xbox players in the next couple of months.

Learn more here.

https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/the-sims-maker-program-and-marketplace

Power is fleeting, and so is The Sims™ 4 Royalty & Legacy Grand Bundle – this offer ends Mar 15! Get the latest expansion plus the Royal Treasures bonus items and 2 free kits: Tea Time Solarium and Silver Screen Style. Start your reign, build your Dynasty, and do it all for the plot!

*Requires The Sims 4 & all game updates. See minimum system requirements for the pack. **Conditions and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/buy/addon/the-sims-4-royalty-and-legacy-grand-bundle for details.

Foil the villain to earn rewards in week 4 of The Sims™ 4 Lost Legacies Event! Solve the mystery to unlock the Master of Grudges Aspiration, Ladies' Front Lacing Corset, and Thebe Family Key.

The Sims™ 4 on Steam