Sims 4 is introducing cottagecore to the game with a new expansion pack

Tons of people turned back to wasting hours playing Sims 4 during the pandemic, but Sims didn’t seem to catch up much with what its supposed demographic—adolescents— are into. Okay well, with the exception the Star Wars expansion pack—that, to be fair, is pretty cool (in part because you can marry Kylo Ren, if that’s your thing). The outfits available in the game are still painfully 2000s, and the only semblance of social media is Instagram—though it’s perhaps better that in this utopia, Twitter doesn’t exist. But the Sims developers are finally paying attention to what the TikTok crowd wants.

Sims 4 is coming out with a Cottage Living expansion pack on July 22, and in case you needed more convincing to buy it—Sims got Japanese Breakfast to record a version of “Be Sweet” for the trailer. Japanese Breakfast joins the ranks of other bands that’ve had the honor of creating Simlish versions of their songs. Those lucky artists include: Katy Perry, Carly Rae Jepsen, Car Seat Headrest, Paramore, and The Black Eyed Peas.

Besides giving us the expectations that this Simlish version of “Be Sweet” will be available on the game, the expansion pack includes fairytale-worthy homes, cute barnyard animals (with the option of making them wear sweaters, if you want to go full Disney), flower booths, town fairs, and Stardew Valley-style farming. It’s been a while since Sims has released an expansion pack worth spending money on when countless creators have made their own custom content for the game that’s better than anything EA has come up with, but this seems worth spending money on. After all, you can only hear Shane ramble on about how much he hates himself on Stardew Valley before you need a change of scenery. Might as well play something where you can have a storybook life.