For decades now, The Sims has held fast to the crown of being the best life sim game despite complaints about churning out overpriced DLC and expansions that often don’t add much value to the overall experience. Though an undisputed classic, The Sims has rested on its laurels for too long, and arguably remained at the top due to a lack of any real competition. However, a new challenger has appeared with the upcoming launch of InZoi.
While it’s true not everything has to be a competition and you can appreciate both games without tearing the other down, it’s a simple fact that two similar products vying for the same customer base will be compared and pitted against one another. That’s business.
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Do I care about console wars? Not really. I choose to have one of each, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have a preference. When I buy a game that is available on all platforms, I pick the same one every time. We all play favourites, even if we think we don’t. It’s healthy to have competition, it gives fans more options, but also encourages companies to push boundaries and innovate.
InZoi is the first real Sims competitor we’ve seen, as many others backed out of the race before they even got to the starting line. While it’s easy to point out that TS4 has a wider variety of gameplay elements—offering more diverse careers, pets, the list goes on—it’s worth pointing out that it’s benefitted from years of updates and InZoi is launching in early access with big plans for the future. The real question is, is it already a viable competitor in this unfinished state, and if so, will it be a slam dunk to snatch the crown when it’s fully released?
The Real Cost Of The Sims 4
InZoi just pulled out the big guns and secured a big win over TS4 before it’s even launched by announcing yesterday that its base price point will be £39.99 and all future DLC and updates will be free. This ‘no player left behind’ mantra has scored a lot of good faith with fans by immediately targeting one of the biggest complaints with its archaic competition.
EA launches expansion packs fairly regularly, with the most recent being the addition of Businesses & Hobbies earlier this month. While some of the expansions, like Life & Death, were very well received, most earned average reviews. It’s hardly surprising considering their £34.99 price tag. There are 18 expansion packs in total now, and while EA often does sales, if you were to purchase each one at launch at full price, it means you’ve already pumped in an extra £600+ to play one game. That simply isn’t worth it for the vast majority of people.
And that’s just the expansion packs. There are 16 kits available that add clothing and furnishing for £4.99 a piece, 12 game packs for £17.99 each that add new experiences like wedding stories or werewolves, and 16 stuff packs at £8.99 that add more objects and clothing, but with some additional gameplay tweaks. The Crystal Creations Stuff Pack added the ability to craft jewellery, for example. If you were to buy everything when it launched, congratulations you’ve already spent over a grand on The Sims 4.
EA also offers bundle packs that combine a mix of different packs together for a cheaper price overall, usually in the £39.99-£49.99 range. But even if you wait and get these DLC packs on sale or bundled together, that’s a lot of extra money on top of a game most have already paid for. I say most because as of 2022, EA made the base game free for everyone. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not much of a saving at this point.
The InZoi Catch
There is a catch, though. Free DLC has only been confirmed for InZoi’s early access period, as director Hyungjun ‘Kjun’ Kim stated in a global showcase that, “until there’s a full launch all updates and DLCs will be provided for free.” This would imply that once the game leaves early access, DLC will have its own price tag, but given that InZoi has made the bold move of emphasising “players over profit” and “fair and affordable pricing” in its recent live stream, I’m hopeful that future price points will be more reasonable than what we’ve seen from EA.
The livestream also covered the upcoming early access roadmap, which boasted several interesting features and improvements, from adoption systems to changes in weight and muscle adjustments, ghosts, memory systems, swimming, and lots more that I am already eager to get my hands on.
When it comes to games like this that continually update and introduce new ideas and content, it’s understandable that a steady income is needed to continue that development, which requires more than just sales of the base game. I’m not opposed to paying for future DLC once InZoi has launched in full, as long as the price is reasonable. I don’t want to look back years down the line and grimace as I work out that I’ve spent nearly a grand on DLC for one game. My husband and my wallet would never forgive me.
- Released
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March 28, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Krafton
- Publisher(s)
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Krafton