THE FUSE

The Sims 4 is a notoriously problematic game. Between its incessant monetization of content packs that have gradually grown sparser (and ultimately led to the essential cancellation of The Sims 5) and now Saudi Arabia’s impending acquisition of Electronic Arts, it’s not exactly the same life sim it was when the series kicked off in 2000. The game is also notably buggy, a problem that seems to grow with every new expansion pack. Most of these bugs have been fairly harmless and occasionally charming: things like Sims randomly hitting T-poses and peeing fire. But now, a much more devastating bug is wiping out generations of gameplay, and it seems like developer Maxis might not know how to fix it.