Here’s Why The Sims 4 DLCs Are So Expensive (& How to Get Them Cheaper)

The Sims 4 undoubtedly, is the best life simulator on the market. Since the first installment, Sims games consistently added more and more content for players to try, allowing them to truly replicate real life. However, those DLCs, addons, packs, and kits are expensive if you combine their prices. To have a full Sims 4 game, one must have a good paycheck to afford it. In this article, we will discuss why is Sims 4 and its DLCs so expensive.

Editor’s Note: This post was updated in January 2024 and does not include the base game in the final calculation since it’s free. The latest released expansion pack is For Rent.

Why are Sims 4 DLCs and add-ons so expensive?

The Sims 4 came out in 2014 and has been the best life simulator game on the market since then. No one could replicate its content, and the fans were excited about the novelties after the Sims 2 and 3. Maxis and EA did not waste time and started “shipping” out classic DLCs like Cats & Dogs, Island Life, University, and more.

Players were excited but realized the more EA Games and Maxis released new DLCs, and add-ons became broader and more expensive. This trend stems from the first Sims game when the DLC The Sims Unleashed was around 25 to 30 dollars. The price was more reasonable since the first Sims game had less content, and the exclusivity of this expansion pack was legitimate at the time.

The Sims 2 presented us with 15 expansions and 10 stuff packs, including IKEA furniture and more. The Sims 3 game went even further, and besides eleven expansion packs and ten stuff packs, EA and Maxis added eleven downloadable worlds, from which only a handful was free.

Back in the day, more specifically in 2012 and 2013, fans realized that the Sims 3 game costs over $400 with all the available add-ons and features. This was alarming for the fans, who started voicing their concerns on the discussion forums.

However, that did not stop the fans of the Sims franchise from buying their beloved game and starting to build new virtual worlds and lives. Even though some fans thought the Sims 3 situation wouldn’t happen again, EA doubled down and started releasing DLCs and add-ons for the same price of $30.

Let’s see how much content has been released from 2014 until today. There are 15 available expansion packs, 12 new game packs introduced in the Sims 4 (which include less content than expansion packs but more than stuff ones), 19 stuff packs, 25 newly introduced game kits, and two free packs. Consider that the expansion packs are $40 each, game packs are $20, stuff packs are $10, and game kits are $5 each. All of these add-ons and DLCs are from Steam.

Even though these prices are alarming, there is a lot of content available for the players, and the hardcore fans welcomed these expansions and prices over the atrocities that happened during the Sims 3 era.

When we do our math, the full Sims 4 game costs almost $1,155. Why is that the case?

EA games have already built a bad reputation for exploiting their customers, especially with FIFA and other sports games that encourage players to spend massive amounts of real money on building their Ultimate teams. Unfortunately, some fans realized too little too late, and others actively and consciously spent their money on their games.

Considering that millions of people worldwide play Sims games, EA’s profits from the game are counted in millions of dollars. Regardless of these facts, experienced Sims players will tell you that you do not need all of the expansions and DLCs – most of them recommend buying the ones that include a broad choice of content, like the Sims 4: Seasons, and enjoy the game as it is.

The message or the lesson from this situation is clear – spend smartly and only buy DLCs you will play, and make you enjoy the experience of the Sims game.

How to get Sims 4 cheaper?

Despite everything we said in this article, frequent sale offers include the base Sims 4 game and its expansions. For example, Origin is doing an every-two-week sale for the Sims 4 game and its expansions, and EA puts the game on sale every big holiday.

Of course, holiday sales are the standard for most of the games in existence, and although EA Games are seemingly overflowing the prices of their games and then reducing them during the sales to the “real” value, Sims games are still really popular.

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