{"id":1294021,"date":"2026-04-01T19:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wfxyL9oMQbEfck5Z8fULWZ"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:19:12","slug":"the-sims-4-has-finally-added-the-ability-to-disable-your-hundreds-of-dlc-packs-which-feels-like-both-a-good-and-bad-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-sims-4-has-finally-added-the-ability-to-disable-your-hundreds-of-dlc-packs-which-feels-like-both-a-good-and-bad-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sims 4 has finally added the ability to disable your hundreds of DLC packs which feels like both a good and bad thing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As someone who played The Sims 3 on a tragically specced laptop, I’ll always remember feeling mildly guilty whenever I ignored its suggestion to “select only a couple of packs at a time to ensure the best game experience,” checking every box for every DLC I owned and hearing the whirr of my fans desperately fighting for their lives.<\/p>\n

Thankfully that’s not an issue I’ve had with The Sims 4\u2014the power of a better-optimised game not shackled to a 32-bit prison\u2014but I’ve certainly had moments where I wished I could disable a pack or two here and there without having to faff around with the EA app’s advanced launch options. Well, after almost 11 years, I finally can.<\/p>\n

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(Image credit: EA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Sims 4’s latest base game update has added a proper pack selector<\/a> which, side note, really highlights the sheer number <\/em>of paid DLC it has. Unlike The Sims 3\u2014which made you select packs before you booted up the game\u2014The Sims 4 has it tucked away in the main menu.<\/p>\n

It’s certainly less of a requirement to disable packs than it was in the previous game, too. EA doesn’t recommend doing it for any optimisation purposes (yet) and it seems more like a way for people to temporarily go without packs that are particularly disruptive to gameplay. It’s giving more optional than necessary, which is exactly how it should be.<\/p>\n

I’m a fan of its introduction, personally, but I still have that tiny bit of fear lingering in the back of my brain that EA is eventually going to use this as a crutch for when the game bloats and potentially destabilises even further. From what the developer has been saying, it seems like The Sims 4 is sticking around for the foreseeable future, and with it already having the highest number of packs in the series, I imagine keeping everything running smoothly is only going to become more difficult.<\/p>\n

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