While most aspects of The Sims games tend to lean towards realism, they’re not afraid of throwing a little magic in, now and again. Playable occults have been consistent additions to the games, and with The Sims 4 introducing vampires and witches already in previous content packs, fans were clamoring for their chance to play as werewolves.

Our team was tasked with showing off their new werewolf models while also highlighting some of the key gameplay features and core story beats that would drive home player engagement.

Werewolves presented a prime opportunity for us to step into the moonlight by highlighting a new world of characters with warring viewpoints: feeding the chaotic inner beast or taming their unwanted urges. To explore duality and choice, we created a symmetrical framing with a human on one side and their werewolf form on the other.

Our main character is flanked by the two werewolf clan leaders, each aiming to recruit the newly turned wolf into their pack. With our depiction of the werewolf, we had to strike a balance between dark and serious, but also funny and charming through expression and posing.

This conflict is framed by the 90’s Pacific Northwest setting, which we emphasized both in environment and wardrobe, to hit an aesthetic that resonated with our audience.

We were challenged to show off their werewolves as more than just killing machines — in the world of The Sims, werewolves are just as human as they are lupine. The Gen Z audience has a different relationship with werewolves than Millennials or Gen X players. Whereas older generations saw werewolves as horror, Gen Z’s werewolves are cuter and tinged with humor. Gen Z, and The Sims players in particular, play to experiment with different identities and explore new lifestyles, so we aimed to ground the packfront in that.

We pulled inspiration from classic werewolf media and embraced the pack’s vintage grunge aesthetic to convey a sense of nostalgia. Combined with touches of classic The Sims humor and magical whimsy, the piece feels familiar yet distinctly The Sims.

The Sims Werewolves was received as one of the best game packs since The Sims 4 launch. Fans absolutely lost their minds when the pack was announced, amused and delighted by the werewolf antics, nostalgic setting and in-depth gameplay. Werewolves contributed to a record breaking year for The Sims: “a total of 1.4 billion hours of The Sims 4 were played [in 2022] across all players ... and is the best-ever number of hours played for the life-simulation game in a single year” (Digital Spy).