5 February 2026

The Sims 4’s Latest Update Basically Soft-Launched Royalty & Legacy’s Most Controversial Feature

By newsgame

If you’re one of the lucky Simmers who have been able to download The Sims 4’s most recent update without experiencing crashes or mod implosions, then you have likely taken a look at all it has to offer. From new Create-A-Sim items to expanded stair customization options, the update has delivered on many hopes long-time Simmers have held onto. Most notably, however, this update seems to have been released in preparation for the upcoming Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack.

The Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack has been a long time coming for Simmers who have yearned for dynastic gameplay. However, it falls into traditional patterns, as its features are foreshadowed in a base game update a week or two before launch. The fun part about these updates is that some Simmers may not even realize that the prep work has already been laid out. And one of Royalty & Legacy’s most controversial features has just been soft-launched in this gigantic Sims 4 base game update.

Exciting Features Coming in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy EP

The Sims 4 has announced its next expansion pack, and the reveal trailer has shown various exciting new features coming to the game.

The Sims 4’s Most Recent Update’s Most Popular Addition Leads to Royalty & Legacy’s Messiest Feature

A Sims game without family feels incomplete. From missing mothers like Bella Goth to estranged children like Johnny Zest, the franchise’s most popular townies are always part of a bigger family picture. This design choice is intentional. The gameplay consistently encourages players to form or strengthen family bonds, whether by creating new families or connecting with existing ones, and the latest update in TS4 further deepens the complexity of these relationships.

Enhanced family trees lay out every possible bit of information a player needs to keep track of their family, while acknowledging the nuances that may be excluded from traditional family trees. Now, players will be able to track extended family members and have unique labels for once-missing relationships, including in-laws, half-siblings, and great-grandparents. The mechanics are so detailed that Simmers can choose whether adopted Sims should be labeled as such in a given family tree.

The Sims 4 Dynasty & Legacy Royal Families

New relationship labels include:

In-Laws: Mother-in-Law, Father-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, Brother-in-Law, Daughter-in-Law, Son-in-Law, Relative-In-law, Distant Relative-In-Law
Step- and Half- Relatives: Half-sister, Half-brother, Stepmother, Stepfather, Stepdaughter, Stepson,
Grandfamilies: Great-grandmother, Great-grandfather, Great-grandson, Great-granddaughter, Grandniece, Grandnephew, Grand-aunt, Grand-uncle
Other: Distant Relative, Cousin, Cousin’s Child, Ancestor, Descendant, Ex-Spouse (formally Divorced), Late Spouse (formally Deceased Spouse)

This update also eliminates the awkwardness that arises when the game formerly did not recognize familial ties. Close relatives can no longer be romantically involved, and this update prevents autonomous flirting between in-laws or step-relatives.

How I Plan to Set Up My Dream Dynasty in The Sims 4’s Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack

I am making the most out of The Sims 4’s upcoming Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack by making my dynasties and royal families riddled with scandal.

The New Sims 4 Family Tree Update Lays Down a Juicy Foundation for Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack

The February 3 Sims 4 update is a resounding win for Simmers seeking deeper family gameplay. Gone are the days when players had to panic-cancel Grandma’s flirty wink toward her uncharacteristically receptive son-in-law. However, gone will also be the days when risky business goes unnoticed by the family tree. It’s no coincidence, after all, that the most significant overhaul to documenting family members comes before a Sims 4 Expansion Pack focused entirely on legacy.

Introducing Secret Children in The Sims 4

Aside from the Grand Balls and prestige, the Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack is concerned with one thing: succession. A Dynasty Head can designate heirs as they see fit, but naturally, most players playing on traditional routes may edge toward a ruler’s children. What happens, then, if that Sim has an illegitimate child from their wilder days?

Thanks to the February 3 Sims 4 update, Royalty & Legacy players will have a key glimpse into the one secret that can cause a whole dynasty to crumble. Secret Children is just one of the many ways that gameplay possibilities complicate themselves in this new EP. Secret Children is a fascinating wrench in the works, thanks to how they can be dealt with in-game:

Secret Children can be kept under wraps if cards are played correctly. This may cause discord, but a Dynasty Head should be used to adversity.
Secret Children can be recognized and added to a dynasty, encouraging peace and honesty or destabilizing succession.
Secret Children can be discovered by nosy Sims who research a family tree to gather incriminating information.
- Dynasty Heads or pertinent family members can be extorted for Simoleons to keep the secret.
- Secret Children can be exposed if discovered by another Sim.

A Legacy of Scandal in The Sims 4

What makes this especially striking is that The Sims 4 has historically treated family history as cosmetic rather than consequential. Affairs could happen, children could be born under questionable circumstances, and the only real fallout was interpersonal drama: hurt feelings, jealous moodlets, and maybe a slapped Sim or two. By tying the scandal directly to the family tree, the Royalty & Legacy EP reframes lineage as evidence to be weaponized and noted.

Illegitimate children stop being a storytelling flourish and become a systemic risk; Sims that can destabilize inheritance, legitimacy, and an entire dynasty’s reputation. In that context, the recent family tree update feels less like a quality-of-life improvement and more like groundwork. A clearer, more legible lineage system is exactly what a scandal mechanic needs to function. It’s now baked into a bloodline, preserved via a family tree, and capable of haunting future generations. In a game built on player freedom, that might be the most scandalous yet necessary addition of all.