Today is the day The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Packs launches, and while many simmers are eager to play with the new DLC, there’s also some concern of problems it could bring to the game. This comes especially from a save corruption bug that has been around since For Rent, still unfixed.
According to a thread on the official EA Forums, the For Rent bug causes the save file “to disintegrate itself. Lots start to get deleted, causing endless loading, loading into empty lots or Error Codes 800/801”. A couple weeks ago, The Sims Direct Communications sent out a tweet saying the devs are investigating this issue.
We’re aware of issues impacting For Rent and save files, and are investigating this further.
Please continue to share details through the EA Forums thread, and upload any impacted save files to assist our investigation ➡️ https://t.co/T1SYmRWsXX pic.twitter.com/bWYhwyrmfO
— The Sims Direct Communications (@TheSimsDirect) February 20, 2025
Now back to Businesses & Hobbies, Bluesky user @veryfinnishsimming reports that, while trying out the game in Early Access, they’ve encountered the same issues with a vanilla save (no custom content or mods).
So I’m part of the creatornetwork with my finnish channel. And played with new EP. Please start your play with new save and new family. In my game owning the small business avenue broke my game and can’t play with my family anymore. 😭😭 Also there is a bug in hobbiesmeeting. There aren’t any.
— veryfinnishsimming (@veryfinnishsimming.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 9:19 AM
While other people from the EA Creator Network have not had the same problems during early access, players are advised to back up their saves. As it’s been said before, this is a bug that disintegrates save files over time, so it’s possible the issues are still to be found.
Hopefully, The Sims 4 will be patched with a fix soon. Meanwhile, it is safe to have a backup, or multiple backups, even if you don’t plan on buying the new Business & Hobbies EP.
