What's dead may never die, especially now that one of three planned patches for The Sims 4 brings deceased sims back in time for Halloween.
Roughly a month after releasing The Sims 4, developer Maxis says its ready to start releasing updates in response to the feedback it has been fielding from fans. The October update includes ghouls, Star Wars costume sets, new eye colors and something about swimming pools, according to a post from Rachel Franklin, vice president and executive producer of EA Games.
"October brings the spoooooky addition of Ghosts to The Sims 4," says Franklin. "Your dead Sims can now rejoin the world of the living, where they maintain all the attributes they had as a Sim, but with special new behaviors based on how they died. Invite them to join your Sims' household and they can be playable characters; if you dare, you might even find a way to bring your ghosts back to life."
The Sims 4's new Star Wars costume set includes Luke Skywalker's X-wing pilot suit, Darth Vader's black armor suit, a Yoda costume and a Princess Leia outfit that even includes her signature cinnamon bun hairdo.
"[Live right now] is the first of three major game updates coming to The Sims 4 over the next three months, each with new features, new content and more," says Franklin. "The updates will be free for everyone playing The Sims 4 who downloads the latest patch, and yes, there will be pools!"
With a SimCity reboot in 2013 that turned many against the franchise and a publisher that was ranked among America's worst companies, Maxis' free offering of updates is a gesture that could help save the future of The Sims franchise.
Maxis producer Grant Rodiek recently said "something has to pay for [The Sims 5]." Maxis isn't even thinking about the next sims game right now, according to Rodiek.
"We're not working on Sims 5," Rodiek said. "We're not thinking about Sims 5. If Sims 4 isn't successful, there won't be a Sims 5."
Publisher EA doesn't release specific sales figures on its games, but The Sims is one of gamings most successful franchises and ranks among the likes of Activision's Call of Duty.
In early September The Sims 4 sat atop the U.K.'s gaming charts ahead of Ubisoft's Watchdogs and Deep Silver's Metro Redux. But the emergence of social gaming on mobile devices would chew away at The Sims' core following over time.
