Review: The Free Market Comes to The Sims 4

Even simulated entrepreneurs aren't free from the burdens of business registration fees.

More than 10 years since the world-building game's initial release, Electronic Arts has finally brought the free market to The Sims 4—or the closest it's likely to get, anyway. The Businesses and Hobbies pack expands on the free-to-play Sims 4 base game, allowing players within the game world to finally earn a living through their creative pursuits and interests.

The expansion gives players the freedom to combine an impressive array of business ideas across in-game craftables and skill-building options. And if a player buys even more expansion packs, that player will have more opportunities to create the business of their dreams.

In the 25 years since the first Sims debuted, the franchise has evolved significantly. It was once a virtual dollhouse-style game with adult themes that simulated the real-world challenges of growing wealth through darkly humorous obstacles such as destructive kitchen fires, burglars, and continuously breaking cheap appliances. Now it focuses on players' creative storytelling and downplays surprising interferences (perhaps reflecting a desire for a world where no scarcity interferes with personal fulfillment at all).

In a not-so-subtle nod to the franchise's generally progressive political feel, the Sims world "Nordhaven" puts a heavy emphasis on community contribution and includes notably un–free market features, such as business registration fees. But players' entrepreneurial spirit still has room to grow in the vast Sims universe.