The Sims 4 Lovestruck expansion: release date and feature details
The next big life simming expansion pack is on the way and we officially know it's called The Sims 4 Lovestruck. As you'd guess based on the title, this one is all about romance. The expansion pack is bringing dating apps, a turn ons and turn offs system, and some new woohoo spots, unsurprisingly. Oh and polyamorous relationships are coming to the base game alongside it, which a lot of players are pretty psyched for.
Here's a quick list of the new stuff in the Lovestruck expansion:
- New world Ciudad Enamorada
- Cupid's Corner dating app
- Romance Consultant career
- Romance dynamics
- Turn ons and turn offs system
- New traits, aspirations, fears, and death
- Free update: Romantic boundaries system
When is the Lovestruck release date?
The Sims 4 Lovestruck release date is July 25, 2024. It will cost $39.99 / £34.99 when it launches on Steam, Epic Games, and the EA App.
Here's the first Lovestruck trailer
The first trailer for Lovestruck and its accompanying announcement post gave us a lot of details on what's in the expansion pack. Some, like the Romance Consultant career, are spelled out in the news post, while others like death by broken heart are teased in the trailer.
The Sims 4 Lovestruck world: Ciudad Enamorada
The new Sims 4 world for Lovestruck is called Ciudad Enamorada, which has three different neighborhoods:
- Vista Hermosa: "a central neighborhood with greenery and walking areas"
- Plaza Mariposa: "a residential suburban neighborhood"
- Nuevo Corazón: "an uptown neighborhood with a small high rise area, with penthouse suite, and upscale venues"
There are also references to several different public lots that we'll find in Ciudad Enamorada:
- A park with a botanical garden style cafe and bar
- A nightclub called Mirador del Amor
- A hotel called Beso Rápido where you can meet for a hookup
The Sims 4 dating app: Cupid's Corner
Another major feature in the Lovestuck expansion is the new online dating app where your Sims can make their own profile, set their dating preferences, and swipe through potential matches to find a date.
You can customize your Sim's profile with all these choices:
- Genders they are romantically interested in
- Genders they are sexually interested in
- Age ranges (young adult, adult, or elderly) that they're willing to date
- Two of their chosen traits you'd like to share
When swiping through matches, it looks like you'll be able to see their profile pic, age, which world they live in, and their two chosen traits. You can choose to save the matches you like best.
There's also the new "date planning system" where Sims can choose a date type, venue, invite other Sims (maybe a double date scenario?), activities, and goals for the date.
Lovestruck romance dynamics and attraction system
In the expansion there will be four different "relationship dynamics" that can develop between partners:
- Wholesome: Genuinely loving and healthy relationship
- Steamy: A relationship focused on physical intimacy
- Strained: Sims who are together but are unhappy and don't treat each other well
- Unpredictable: Relationships that go back and forth from fighting to, er, woohoo-ing often
That plays into the attraction system of turn ons and turn offs. It sounds like how you currently choose all sorts of general likes and dislikes for a Sim, but specifically traits in a romantic relationship that they like or don't. Those can be traits of other Sims, clothes, hairstyles, or particular interactions.
What else is new in the Lovestruck expansion?
- Singles Hangout lot trait for attracting eligible Sims
- Romance Consultant career
- New actions like sharing food, stargazing, sultry dances, and new kiss type
- Three new woohoo spots (one in a closet, and one on a picnic blanket, based on the trailer)
- Option to attend couples counseling
- An eggplant costume, yes really, along with more traditional flirty costumes like a maid outfit and a cute devil
- New aspirations: Paragon Partner and Romantic Explorer
- New traits: Romantically Reserved and Lovebug
- New fears: Fear of Intimacy and Fear of Being Alone
- New death: Heartbreak, it appears
What Build/Buy and Create-A-Sim items are in Lovestruck?
We don't have the full rundown on all the Build/Buy and CAS items coming in the expansion yet, but the reveal trailer does give us sort of a clue on the style. Although from what I can tell, that style is pretty hot and cold.
Some things are sleek and trendy florals while others seem like more throwback seedy club stuff a la the Hot Date expansion of Sims 1. There's a big old heart bed, for instance, which has made an appearance in every other Sims game so far apart from The Sims 4.
Until we see the full rundown, here are just a few things I spotted that seem to indicate the styles we'll see:
- Pastel clothes with large floral prints
- Lots of gold jewelry, though presumably there will be other color swatches
- Multiple hair styles that incorporate claw clips
- Curved pools
- Very modern plant decor like new hanging plants and some large wall plant installations
- Big wallpaper prints like tiger stripes
- Furniture that mixes modern aesthetic, upholstery, and possibly some art deco themes
What's coming in the Lovestruck free update?
As usual, there will be a free base game update alongside the Lovestruck expansion. This one will bring the "romantic boundaries" system which a lot of folks are just referring to as the "polyamory update."
"You can now define how your Sims approach romantic relationships in terms of physical and emotional romantic exclusivity," says the expansion announcement post. "This allows for Sims to date multiple Sims without impact to other relationships."
So presumably a Sim who does not require physical exclusivity won't get angry if they happen to see their partner kissing another Sim, and the same for romantic exclusivity and flirting. Hopefully this will let players set up all sorts of complicated household scenarios to play with.