Turns out that last week’s leaks were bang on the money: the next expansion pack for The Sims 4 will indeed be titled For Rent, and will allow you to play as a landlord. Which is… certainly interesting.
This isn’t the first time that rental properties have come to The Sims 4. Apartments introduced in the City Living and Eco Lifestyle expansion packs are rented rather than owned by your characters — meaning, for the most part, that you can’t edit the building shells — and short-term holiday lets were introduced as far back as the game’s very first add-on (2015’s Outdoor Retreat game pack). This is, however, the first time that your playable characters will be able to act as the landlord as well as the tenant, buying up multiple properties and using them to exert power over those keen to indulge themselves in the fundamental human right of housing.
While admittedly there hasn’t been a huge amount of demand for landlord-centric gameplay among the fandom, the For Rent pack nevertheless looks poised to deliver on several fan-favourite requests. The new world of Tomarang adds a nice touch of much-needed Southeast Asian representation to the series as it continues its gradual move away from American-centrism. But it’s multi-unit housing, which Simmers have wanted for ages, that looks like the actual big draw. The cynic in me is wondering if the landlord angle wasn’t just the only way to add proper editable apartment buildings as a full-priced add-on to a game that already has multiple city-themed DLC packs.