The Sims 4 appears to be going permanently free to play

gamesradar.com:

It looks like The Sims 4 is about to go fully free-to-play.

Earlier today, Instant Gaming reported (opens in new tab)that "according to an internal source close to EA, the Sims 4 will become free to play on October 18." 

According to that report, an official announcement is expected later today. Since that tweet dropped, however, the news appears to have been confirmed by Origin. GamesRadar+ has verified that the store page for The Sims 4 on EA's launcher currently note that "The Sims 4 will be free to play starting October 18."

That's not concrete proof, by any means - although the most recent information comes direct from the game's publisher on an official storefront, there's a chance that it's referring to an upcoming window of free access. That wouldn't be the first time EA has given The Sims 4 away for free, but it would admittedly be an extremely long notice period - we're more than a month away from the start of the expected free access, which lends credence to a permanent free-to-play model.

That model would also work pretty well for The Sims. While the base game is the heart of the experience, it's only ever been a small part of the ecosystem. Even in the days of The Sims and The Sims 2, expansions were a key part of Maxis' model, and in the days of The Sims 4, there are more than 60 added kits and game packs that allow players to expand on the original game.

While we wait to hear from EA, right now seems like a great time to swot up on The Sims 4 cheats.