The Sims 4 passed a new milestone of 30 million players this year, following its most active quarter to date. The Sims 4 was first released on PC in 2014 and has seen a steady increase in players following its port to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and a series of popular expansion packs.

While The Sims 4 base game was popular enough as it is, the real success of The Sims is in its post-launch support. Sims developer EA regularly releases new content packs for The Sims 4, ranging from full expansion packs that add robust new activities or overhaul the game in major ways to “stuff packs,” which add new items and smaller updates to the game. Keeping up with all of The Sims 4’s new content packs can get expensive just from the sheer number of them, but dedicated fans continue to buy them to add new dimensions to the lives of their Sims.

Despite The Sims 4 being six years old, it continues to attract new players, no doubt in part due to its frequent updates. Gamasutra reports that The Sims 4 has passed 30 million lifetime players across its PC, PS4, and Xbox One, according to a recent EA earnings call. Just this January, The Sims 4 passed 20 million lifetime players, meaning that it grew by 50 percent in only the past few months. EA said that Q2 2020 was the game’s best quarter to date when it comes to active daily, weekly, and monthly players.


While EA didn’t give a reason for The Sims 4’s massive growth this year, there are several likely factors that helped give it a boost. For one, The Sims 4 was one of the free games on PlayStation Plus in February 2020, potentially introducing the game to a whole whole set of players who hadn’t picked it up yet. Between late 2019 and now, several new packs have been released, giving players new options like sending their Sims to college, adopting sustainable lifestyles, and taking up knitting as a new hobby. It’s also impossible to ignore the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which is keeping players indoors and likely making a robust life sim like The Sims 4 seem even more attractive than normal.

It’s no surprise that The Sims 4 continues to gain new players even years after its release. The franchise has a long history of devoted players, and its constant addition of new content means that sooner or later, it’s bound to add something to appeal to nearly anyone.

The Sims 4 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.