The base game was announced to be free-to-play on Sep 14th, 2022 and officially available for download on Oct 18th, 2022 following 'Behind The Sims Summit'. This is the first time the full base game and content packs became available for consoles, unlike previous iterations in which a limited version of the game was used. The Console versions of The Sims 4 were released on November 17, 2017, for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It was released on February 17, 2015, several months after the PC version. A Mac version of the game was announced at the same time but a release date was not specified until early 2015. The Sims 4 was released in North America on September 2, 2014, and in other places worldwide shortly thereafter for PC. The Sims 4 boasts an overhauled and intuitive Create a Sim, updated building tools, and deeper, more complex Sims through the addition of emotions and new traits.

Like the previous games in the series, The Sims 4 focuses on creating and controlling a neighborhood of virtual people, called ' Sims'.

The Sims 4 is the fourth installment in The Sims franchise.