Summary

• The Sims 4 players report a glitch allowing unintended romances.
• Custom content and mods may be causing the glitch, as some players use them to expand romance options.
• The uncomfortable nature of the glitch has many people wishing that there was a patch for it.

Players recently noticed an issue with the types of romance that are available in the game. While certain restrictions have been rightly lifted over the years — like allowing same-sex couples to marry starting in The Sims 3 — the game still does its best to restrict romances that would be seen as illegal and immoral. At least, it is meant to do that.

According to some players online, The Sims 4 has struggled to keep these romance restrictions consistent. Whether this is the result of a bug with the game or a glitch caused by popular custom content for the game is unclear, as the players who have shown these issues have itted to having some mods installed for the game. Luckily, The Sims 4 continues to receive updates, and recent patches may have addressed the issue in question.

Players Notice The Sims 4 Accidentally Allows Romance Between Family

Reddit loversickgirls13 Shared This Glitch

In a Reddit post, loversickgirls13 shared that one of their Sims was forming a romantic connection with that Sim’s uncle. While this would seem like an anomaly, other s quickly flocked to share their own stories of an unexpected relationship popping up in their games. Everything from pairs of brothers to other unwanted romantic pairings had popped up in these players’ copies of The Sims 4.

Typically, romance within a family unit is restricted by The Sims 4, so it’s unclear why so many s are suddenly experiencing this issue. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that these reports should be taken with a grain of salt. There is little context provided about these Reddit s’ games and what might have caused their copies of The Sims 4 to have these types of issues. It’s worth first examining if this issue is actually present in the base version of the game before trying to determine how this could happen.

Romance Between Family Is Not Currently Available Within Families In The Sims 4

The Sims 4 Does Not Allow Romance Options Between Family

Using a base copy of The Sims 4 to test things out, it was not possible to recreate a relationship between a Sim and their uncle, as was shown in this post. Even when both characters reached maximum affection for one another, both had the romantic trait, and both had an aspiration to be serial romantics, they were not able to romance their family .

Checking to see if any of the other relationships mentioned were possible, it became clear that The Sims 4 would also not allow for a father and daughter to be in a romantic relationship or two brothers to date or even flirt. Whatever issues that were happening with these Redditors’ games does not seem to be an issue with a bog-standard copy of The Sims 4. The Sims 4 also has less family dynamics than previous games where this type of thing could be explained away.

In The Sims 3, the game ed for in-laws. Theoretically, a Sim could have a romantic relationship with another Sim who later became their in-law. However, The Sims 4 doesn’t have in-law mechanics, so there is no possibility that the Sim in the screenshot had a relationship with an unrelated Sim before that Sim became their uncle through marriage. The most likely explanation is that players experiencing this type of bug may have some issues with their game caused by custom content.

This Issue Has Happened In The Sims 4 Before

The Family Romance Issues Were Fixed In A Patch

It is entirely possible that this issue was actually caused by issues with The Sims 4 itself, but has since been addressed. This wouldn’t be the first time that The Sims 4 had an issue with family romancing one another. Back in 2022, Kotaku reported on a similar issue that had to be addressed in an official patch for the game. That said, it doesn’t seem like this issue has been something referenced in the game’s most recent patch notes.

The most recent update for The Sims 4 took place on June 6, 2024, and there is no mention of addressing issues with romantic relationships. The only mention of romance in the update before that one was a fix made to the use of pronouns during romantic relationship phone calls. That said, the s who have reported these issues may be just playing with an even older version of the game that is still experiencing these types of glitches. Seeing as it’s a problem that the game has had previously, it’s not impossible to think these complaints are legitimate.

Custom Content May Have Caused This Sims 4 Glitch

Players Use Mods To Widen The Scope Of The Sims 4’s Romance Options

The Sims 4 players will often mods for their games that allow players to expand romantic options beyond the borders typically provided by the base game. One of the most popular mods, Wicked Wims, allows players to pretty much cross any boundary and also provides players with a large array of custom interactions. When in use, this mod doesn't restrict its use to just Sims that are actively controlled, but instead, all Sims will have the ability to romance whoever they like. This could easily create the type of situation where a Sim automatically romances their sibling or uncle.

Some of the players in the initial Reddit thread did mention having mods and custom content installed for their game. It’s very possible that these mods could have contributed to these unwanted romantic connections. Even if the s weren’t using a mod like Wicked Wims that was designed to erase these types of boundaries, there is also the possibility that the presence of custom content could cause issues with a game. Having too many or faulty unofficial add-ons can often cause The Sims 4 to have issues. However, there is another possibility players mentioned as well.

While attempting to recreate this strange glitch with the base game didn’t work, it is also possible that it only occurs with certain expansions for The Sims 4 ed. If more players come forward with the same type of experiences, EA will likely have to address this issue with a patch like they did back in 2022. Players likely hope this patch comes sooner than later, given the uncomfortable nature of this glitch.

Sources: loversickgirls13/Reddit, Kotaku