14 December 2025

The Sims 4’s SpongeBob Collab Gave Me 2020 Flashbacks at First, But Luckily It Proved to Have Teeth

By newsgame

I’m not proud of my first reaction to The Sims 4’s recent SpongeBob collaboration, announced with all the cartoonish optimism of a Nickelodeon bumper. The split second I saw that pineapple house silhouette, my brain did exactly what I didn’t want it to do: it sent me spiraling straight back to 2020. Cold sweat, distant screaming, the faint smell of popcorn buckets imported from Galaxy’s Edge—basically, the whole longtime-Simmer-being-dramatic package.

It wasn’t fair to SpongeBob. It wasn’t even rational. I simply saw “Sims crossover” and braced for a familiarly hollow aftertaste that made The Sims 4’s Journey to Batuu infamous within the Simming community. After I stepped back, touched grass, and inhaled deeply, a calmer truth set in: the SpongeBob collab wasn’t a disaster. It wasn’t even giving mild chaos. It was fine. Adorable, even. And by The Sims 4’s cross-branding standards, that’s a genuine win.

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What Was The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu?

For the newer players (or for the veterans like me who blacked out), Journey to Batuu was The Sims 4’s Star Wars Game Pack. On paper, it sounded like a dream pairing: lightsabers, iconic characters, intergalactic factions, and the possibility of weaving a beloved sci-fi universe into everyday Sims chaos.

Instead, it became a cautionary tale. Batuu was essentially a digital version of Disney World’s Galaxy’s Edge, faithfully but blandly mapped into The Sims’ engine. It offered rabbit holes disguised as story missions, isolation from other packs, bugs, no new Sim occult forms, and a strange veneer that felt disconnected from nearly everything that makes The Sims, well, The Sims.

Batuu delivered almost none of the uniqueness that could have made it a must-buy DLC for Sims 4. The reception was so overwhelmingly negative that the Game Pack essentially became DLC to skip, which is why my muscle memory flinches every time a new crossover drops.

The Sims 4’s SpongeBob Collab Is Surprisingly Sensible

I’m hardly the resident Star Wars expert in my household; my husband, however, could give you the full Jedi-Order-versus-BBEG lecture with diagrams. Yet, even without knowing everything, it was clear that Batuu didn’t deliver the kind of creative, sandbox-friendly experience that makes The Sims actually fun. I feared the same thing for the SpongeBob collab.

The Sims 4’s SpongeBob collaboration arrived in the form of two Kits: the SpongeBob’s House Kit and the Kid’s Room Kit. They can be purchased separately or as the Bikini Bottom Bundle until March 3, 2026. Kits are small by design, but in this case, their smallness works. The team chose the only upgrade path that wouldn’t trigger a second Batuu: keep it simple, cosmetic, and honest.

SpongeBob’s House Kit

Build pieces themed around the iconic pineapple home, including the SpongeBob’s Diver Helmet TV and the Foghorn Alarm
Nautical-nonsense decor that walks the line between playful and useful
A few novelty environment items that riff on undersea textures, colors, and shapes

Kid’s Room Kit

Character-inspired furniture and wall decor
SpongeBob outfits, costumes, and themed pajamas
Toys like the Krusty Krab dollhouse and a charming Patrick plush

Bikini Bottom Bundle (Combines both packs’ contents with the following exclusives)

SpongeBob SquarePants Kits in the Sims 4

The Flying Dutchman’s Jungle Gym
The Goofy Goober Guitar
Conch Street Aquarium

Is any of this reinventing The Sims 4? Absolutely not. Some Sims fans dislike the SpongeBob collab, even. Unlike Batuu, however, this collab is doing exactly what is safe for a Sims crossover: give players fun, flexible, aesthetic-forward content they can weave into their worlds however they want without huge promises.

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The Sims 4’s SpongeBob Collab Actually Shows Promise

The Sims just doesn’t do sweeping celebrity- or brand-driven DLC anymore, at least not as often as it used to. Gone are the days of The Sims 3 plastering Katy Perry on the cover in a cupcake bra and committing to the bit without irony. The Sims 4 mostly sticks to safer collaborations with influencers, fashion labels, and small creative partnerships. When the franchise suddenly resurrects the idea of an IP crossover with a brand as enormous as SpongeBob SquarePants, the stakes feel higher. After Journey to Batuu, “cautious pessimism” is more than reasonable.

The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey To Batuu allows Sims to explore Galaxy's Edge. — The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey To Batuu allows Sims to explore Galaxy’s Edge.

The Sims 4 is in a strange stage of late-life stability. It’s full, it’s sprawling, and it’s ultimately preparing the ground for whatever Project Rene becomes. At this point, The Sims 4 doesn’t need to take big swings, but it does need smart ones. SpongeBob, strangely enough, shows a few lessons learned:

Sims Kits are the safest place for collabs.
Themed items beat themed narratives in this engine. SpongeBob decor doesn’t interrupt gameplay. Batuu’s missions isolated the player from any other gameplay possibilities.
The content is actually versatile. A nautical facade can be played straight, camp, surrealist, tiki-adjacent, nautical, or uncanny. The kids’ items integrate into any household. The bundle bonuses are characterful without being restrictive.

The Sims 4 character looking surprised close-up — *The Sims 4* gameplay screenshot showing a close-up of a character with a French braid looking surprised.

The Collab Still Has Limits — But They’re the Right Ones

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a revelation. This is not a Skyrim-modding overhaul, nor is it a Seasons-sized milestone. The Sims 4 is simply too locked into its own architecture for that, and collabs don’t change that reality.

But for a brand partnership, this is exactly the sweet spot: small, thematic, no friction, and easy to ignore if it’s not for you. The bar is admittedly low, but clearing the bar beats tripping over it. The nostalgia of older generations still lingers for when Sims Expansions were weird, culturally loud, and occasionally ridiculous. Yet, in a critical moment for this franchise, crossovers like this one are the modern equivalent of a good-natured wink.

The Lesson Learned: SpongeBob Versus Journey to Batuu

If The Sims 4 is going to keep experimenting with collabs, SpongeBob is a great model to follow: highly identifiable, low-pressure, aesthetic-driven, and mindful of what actually works inside a life simulator. It’s not dazzling. It’s not groundbreaking. But it fits. After experiencing Journey to Batuu, “fitting” feels like a minor miracle.