The Sims 4 release date announced for Xbox One and PS4

After three years of exclusivity on PC, Electreonic Arts has announced that The Sims 4 will finally make its way to consoles. Today the company announced the release date for the both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game. While The Sims 4 won't be landing on consoles until November, those who are subscribed to EA Access will be able to check it out just a little bit early.

With that in mind, The Sims 4 on consoles actually has a few different release dates. Officially, The Sims 4 will be available on Xbox One and PS4 on November 17. If you pre-order The Sims 4 Deluxe Party Edition, however, you'll be able to start playing on November 14. Finally, if you're subscribed to EA Access (which is only available to Xbox One players), The Sims 4 will unlock on November 9.

Pre-ordering any edition of The Sims 4 will get you the Perfect Patio Stuff DLC which adds a a variety of hot tubs and outdoor decor to the game. The Deluxe Party Edition, on the other hand, will add a flaming tiki bar, a selection of "outrageous" costumes, and finally, animal-themed hats.

EA says that the console release will feature some of the post-launch content The Sims 4 received on PC, but doesn't say what, specifically, that content is. It's probably too much to hope that we'll see all of the expansions released thus far, as The Sims has historically been a big cash cow for EA. It stands to reason, then, that EA will hold back some content to release at a later date.

We're not sure just how much of the core Sims 4 experience will make the jump to consoles. Previous console entries in The Sims franchise have been pared back at least a little in the transition to consoles, but with this being the first Sims release on current-gen hardware, we may see relative parity between the console and PC versions. We'll find out in November, so stay tuned.