People Stand Near 'Sims 4' Game Characters On A Wall During The 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Known As E3, In Los Angeles
People stand near "Sims 4" game characters on a wall during the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California June 11, 2014. Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn

EA and Maxis added the Game Pack concept starting with Outdoor Retreat for “The Sims 4” focused on a specific theme rather than a major campaign setting provided by Expansion Packs. New reports revealed postponed release date for the first Expansion Pack to next year because of fiscal reasons.

‘The Sims 4’ Expansion Packs Release Date Starting On 2016

Expansion Packs for “The Sims 4” are major updates bringing new features to the game similar to previous game titles such as “The Sims 2 and 3.” But according to reports from FuseJoplin, EA postponed the release date on 2016 due to fiscal reasons. However, a comment revealed that the postponement will likely put the release date of the first Expansion Pack between April 2015 and March 2016.

“The expansion has been delayed until sometime until FISCAL YEAR 2016, not regular calendar year 2016. FY2016 starts on April 2015, so it’s coming out at some point between this April and March 2016,” posted by Palaverous at the Web site.

Regardless of the postponed release date, EA and Maxis remain quiet about the details of the first Expansion Pack including the title, features and new game mechanics. Players are currently offered by three free patch updates which add swimming pools, new careers, ghosts and in-game items representing holidays. Outdoor Retreat is the first Game Pack released for “The Sims 4” which includes a new world, new in-game items, new game mechanics and a new secret location for camping, wilderness adventure, Herbalism skill and more.

Mac Version System Requirements

System requirements for Macintosh users have been unveiled by TS4News hinting official release soon. Specifications for Mac computers include minimum operating system, processor, memory, hard drive space, video card and product activation as noted below.

- Minimum OS Required: Mac OS X 10.7.5 (Lion).

- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or better.

- Memory: 4 GB of RAM chipset or higher.

- Hard Disk: Total of 11 GB free storage space. 10 GB for the game and 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games.

- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better. Video memory size or VRAM must be at least 256 MB.

- Origin account and Internet connection are required for product activation.

SimGuruBChick posted at the game forum that upcoming free content updates are not going to be announced in advanced. But Game Packs and Expansion Packs are set to be announced before official release dates.