EA has announced on their official help website that they will be ending support for the 32-bit version of The Sims 4, tentatively scheduled for June 2019.

32-bit operating systems, typically found on older devices, only support up to 4gb memory and are no longer the standard with computers. The majority of devices are now 64-bit and this means that the operating system can use more memory for demanding applications, like The Sims 4.

This comes at a time when 64-bit is now the standard in the computing world and, for Mac users at least, Apple are planning to completely phase out support for 32-bit apps in the next version of macOS.

For most of you, it’s likely you will not notice the change. But if you do have an older PC (as the Mac version of The Sims 4 is already 64-bit only), then you may need to check your compatibility as otherwise you will not be able to receive the latest updates for The Sims 4 once it has been phased out, and will instead need to install The Sims 4 Legacy Edition which will support all content up until February 2019, but will disable all online features – including the gallery.

I highly imagine that this will only affect a very small portion of players and to see that EA/Maxis are not holding back on upgrading the core of The Sims 4 in order to accommodate devices which may no longer be fit to handle the demands of the game.

The official announcement on EA Answers HQ said:

Today we are announcing some changes to the supported specifications for The Sims 4™ on PC and Mac. As of June 2019, we will no longer support The Sims 4 on Non-Metal Mac OS machines or PC 32-bit Operating Systems. Apple has announced plans to phase out support for graphics processing technology called OpenGL and will be moving to a new technology known as Metal. Due to this change, we will upgrade The Sims 4 to work with Metal. For those that cannot upgrade to a Metal supporting OS, The Sims 4™: Legacy Edition will be made available to you. Please see the FAQ below. This update will also retire support for 32-bit Operating Systems. We regularly evaluate our technologies, and to continue growing, improving, and optimizing the game, we have made the decision to retire 32-bit support. If you are a PC player who cannot update to a 64-bit OS, The Sims 4: Legacy Edition will be made available to you.

If you do have a 32-bit system, then it may be time to consider upgrading your device as it is likely that it already struggles to handle modern applications such as The Sims 4. But, if you are not able to upgrade and are affected by this, then you will probably want to know more about The Sims 4 Legacy Edition which you will be switched over to eventually.

An FAQ has been shared on the EA website and I wanted to highlight some key messages to take away: