According to a recent social media post, Electronic Arts will discontinue The Sims 4: Legacy Edition next month. Since 2019, users who wanted to play The Sims 4 on older Mac and PC operating systems had to use the Legacy Edition, a version of the game meant to operate on unsupported OSs with certain restrictions. According to EA, those users will now need to update their operating system or purchase a new device in order to continue playing.
Since its initial release in 2014, The Sims 4 has received several updates, fixes, and expansions. Throughout this period, the game has been plagued by technical glitches, bugs, and unfinished or missing features, and The Sims 4 players are still screaming for remedies to a number of long-standing concerns. In 2019, EA stated that the game will no longer be supported on non-metal macOS and 32-bit PC OS machines. At the same time, The Sims 4: Legacy Edition was launched to enable fans with such systems to continue playing The Sims 4.
EA confirmed on Monday that The Sims 4: Legacy Edition would be discontinued on December 12th, 2022. Fans who have the Legacy Edition will need to update their operating system or install the game on a new device in order to continue playing The Sims 4. Any Legacy Edition save files will remain available to gamers who update their systems; however EA warns that fan-made custom content and modifications for The Sims 4: Legacy Edition “may not be compatible with the full version of the game.”
The reason for the Legacy Edition’s discontinuation is not stated in either the Twitter announcement or the EA Help site referenced in that post. The EA Help post even has a part titled “Why is this happening?” yet neither that section nor the article as a whole addressed that point. Because the Sims team seems to be preoccupied with developing The Sims 5, it is probable that EA no longer thought sustaining The Sims 4: Legacy Edition to be worthwhile.
This revelation will undoubtedly upset fans who have been utilising the Legacy Edition to play The Sims 4 on older devices, and many fans commenting to the announcement on Twitter voiced perplexity and displeasure at EA’s inexplicable choice to cease the service. Fans of The Sims being frustrated with EA is not a new occurrence, and the demise of the Legacy Edition is unlikely to be a deal-breaker for dedicated Simmers.
