The Sims 4 packs have a tendency to leak before the official reveal, and the second expansion pack of 2025 has proven to be no different. The next expansion pack in The Sims 4 is rumored to be based on plants, including magical plants and fairies. Fairies have been requested by Simmers for a long time, as other occults such as werewolves, vampires, and ghosts have taken the stage.
The Sims 3 introduced fairies to the franchise alongside vampires, witches, and werewolves in The Sims 3: Supernatural, but players have had to wait a long time for their arrival. Most occults in The Sims 4 were released as the main focus of a game pack, with the exception of aliens and mermaids. As fairies may be included in an expansion pack about nature, they're likely to not be the focus of the expansion pack, and instead may be closer to mermaids and aliens than the other occults. No matter how small their role, the inclusion sets The Sims 4 apart from InZOI, which is - for better or worse - deliberately lagging behind when it comes to supernatural features.
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InZOI Doesn't Have Occults
No matter the depth of gameplay that The Sims 4's fairies provide, their inclusion is a win for The Sims 4 compared to its direct competitor, InZOI. As a life sim in early access, InZOI currently focuses on more realistic gameplay despite its fantastical context of assuming the role of a godlike being who reports to cats. The Sims 4 already has a robust foundation for including supernatural features thanks to its previous iterations, but also because it's had 11 years to add new occults and magic systems, even overhauling them when needed.
InZOI's Early Access Plans Include a Popular Occult
In terms of InZOI's strategy to add supernatural features during early access, InZOI currently plans on adding playable ghosts in a future update in 2025, which will become a key part of its karma system. Ghosts are created in InZOI when a Zoi dies with a bad karma reading. They need to change their karma rating through good deeds before they'll be allowed to pass on to the afterlife. As ghosts haven't been implemented yet, it's unknown what exactly their gameplay will be like. However, there is reason to believe that this is as far as the game might go with occult concepts, at least for the foreseeable future.
InZOI's Focus is on Realism
InZOI's game director, Hyungjun "Kjun" Kim, commented earlier this year, before InZOI's early access launch, that the team wanted to keep the role of ghosts fairly limited, so the game could instead focus on its more realistic aspects. He later went on to say:
While we’re committed to refining the realistic elements of InZOI first, I’d love to explore more fantasy-driven elements in the future.
Based on Kjun's comments, it's unlikely that InZOI will get more occult or supernatural features anytime soon, as Krafton is working on giving players a better experience with realistic elements such as family dynamics, relationships, daily tasks, and careers. As it's in early access, InZOI has many basic features it needs to add before it can be considered a complete base game. Once the features are all in place, with player concerns noted and fixed, Krafton may think about adding supernatural features to InZOI. However, like ghosts, they may not be as prominent as occults in The Sims 4.
InZOI May Not Need Supernatural Features
InZOI may end up focusing on realism and more grounded gameplay, especially considering its hyperrealistic art style, but that's hardly a bad thing. Supernatural features may not fit into InZOI's game design, as its core loop could instead appeal to a niche of players who prefer realistic gameplay such as generation challenges, building, and telling more grounded stories with their characters. The Sims having this type of content remains a strength, though, as it further separates it from its competition and gives players a reason to not completely move on to InZOI.
The Sims 4
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 70 /100 Critics Rec: 26%
- Released
- September 2, 2014
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Maxis
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Cross-Platform Play
- Xbox, PlayStation, and computer versions of Sims 4 are all separate games incompatible with each other
- Cross Save
- no
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Simulation
