The Sims 4 will finally let you be a predatory landlord or a tenant dying from mould
For Rent expansion coming December
The Sims 4 has long offered millennials the unattainable fantasy of owning their own home. On December 7th, it'll instead offer something much closer to reality. That's when the For Rent expansion will launch, adding multi-family lots so you can construct apartment buildings, rent out your spare basement, or have an authentically terrible time as a tenant.
"Property owner Sims can be present property managers, living among their tenants, or they can live in a separate residence while generating income from several property investments," says the expansion site. "Watch out – if property owners don’t keep their Unit Ratings high, they could face a Tenant Revolt." Presumably the tenant revolt accomplishes nothing, everyone moves out, and then as landlord you can just move new people in without fixing any of the problems.
Facilitating all this are new "residential rental lots", which are flexible enough to let you fix multiple families together in different ways. That includes the aforementioned flats and basement rentals, but also duplexes to keep two families close together. I can imagine having fun constructing granny flats in the back garden. And less fun when everyone falls out over the noise. The expansion also includes a new region, Tomarang, which features a botanical garden, Spirit House, animal sanctuary and a night market.
I've rented for most of the last twenty years and I for one will be placing as many landlords as I can find into pools and then removing the ladders.
The Sims 4 For Rent expansion will launch on December 7th for €40. Apartment living also seems to be a core part of the more open world approach of what might be called The Sims 5, but what is currently known as Project Rene.