EA and Maxis have released the first trailer for The Sims 4‘s upcoming Life and Death Expansion Pack, revealing this DLC will include a range of new, highly-requested features – including the ability to hold funerals, and become a grim reaper.
As revealed in the trailer, the focus of the new Expansion Pack is to celebrate the lives of Sims, and honour them in death. For the first time, a death in the family will give the option to host a funeral gathering, which involves eulogising and mourning, as well as reading out wills. Players will also be able to create their own cemeteries with new outdoor decorations, and will seemingly have new interactions with tombstones.
As part of this Expansion Pack, Sims will now also have “bucket list” goals to complete, to have a fulfilled life. This list will be inspired by each Sims’ Traits, and ticking it off will give “powerful rewards” including the mysterious ability to experience “Rebirth.” As implied, it appears Sims will be able to be resurrected in this process.
If Sims become Ghosts, they will also be able to “continue their Soul’s Journey to complete their Unfinished Business” – so the story won’t end after death. Based on wording, it does appear “Ghost” will now be akin to a new supernatural type for Sims, with players able to customise their Ghost’s looks, and work on new Ghost powers. In Ghost form, they will have new abilities, like being able to scare other Sims, and they can even form intimate relationships with the living.
Read: The best Sims 4 expansion packs for beginners
The new neighbourhood of Ravenwood introduced with this pack is described as being a place “where the veil between life and death is especially thin.” This allows the living and the dead to live alongside each other, exploring what “living” really means.
As part of this exploration, Sims will have brand new career pathways: the Reaper Profession, and the Undertaker Career. As a Reaper, Sims will help the dead move onto their next phase, while earning brownie points as the best Reaper employee.
The Undertaker Career doesn’t involve delivering Tombstone Piledrivers. Rather, it will allow Sims to dig graves and embalm bodies, while working to create the perfect funerals for their grieving neighbours.
As an added note, separate to the features listed – it does appear one famous Sim will feature in Life and Death. Over on X, one user pointed out that the Sim on the right of the Life and Death cover looks a lot like Nervous Subject, one of the fan-favourite characters from The Sims 2, who might be the son of the Grim Reaper. In response, the official Sims account simply replied with googly eyes and thinking emojis, suggesting this was on the money, and Nervous Subject could be formally returning with this Expansion Pack.
We’ll just have to wait to see what his role might be.
EA and Maxis have promised more news about The Sims 4 Life and Death Expansion Pack in the coming weeks. It’s set to launch for PC and consoles on 31 October 2024.
