The Sims 4 legend behind piracy tool rendering nearly $1,500 of DLC totally free quits town and takes his loot with 'em, players pay tribute as copycats immediately try to charge for alternatives

The Sims 4 community is truly going through it right now, as one of the most iconic figures – pirate king Anadius himself – seemingly departs from all social media and leaves his DLC unlocker tool for EA's notoriously expensive game defunct.

If you're unfamiliar with Anadius, he was the creator behind the "Sims 4 Updater" – a tool many players used to pirate all of the expansions (we're talking kits, game packs, you name it) for The Sims 4. It's been around for quite some time now, and although Anadius has a bit of a reputation as a take-no-flak kind of guy, the Sims 4 Updater saved users a whopping $1,449.05 (yes, that's how much The Sims 4 expansion packs cost) in DLC money.

Anadius is gone permanently this time... wtf happened? from r/PiratedGames

Anadius hasn't stepped down without leaving a goodbye message, however. As noted on Reddit, his farewell post reads as follows: "I decided to step down. Don't pester my close friends, till the end I acted like an asshole I am and haven't told them the reason why either." He then explains that, while the "Sims 4 Updater is dead dead," source code for his DLC unlocker tools "is safe with the moderation team."

According to the pirating legend, the moderators can "share it with anyone willing to update them (in case they break)." Unsurprisingly, the Sims 4 fanbase is in shambles. Under the final thread online from Anadius – with him having scrubbed all others before it – players gather to mourn the loss of free, albeit pirated, DLC. "I will forever be grateful for you," writes one sad Simmer. Another says, "Welp. Guess I'm never playing The Sims again."

The debacle doesn't end there, though. Simmerella, a prominent creator of Sims 4 mods, is taking on the hard work of keeping pirating of EA's downloadable content alive, as per her Patreon – but there's a catch. As the community notes in a separate post, Simmerella's DLC unlocker comes with a twist: "...you have to pay for their Patreon to get DLCs on the release day." Anadius's tool was entirely free, and fans had immediate access to expansions on launch.

Understandably, players are now even more upset. "So it basically destroys the whole purpose of what Anadius stood for and what pirating is about," comments one such fan. Another adds, "I had no love for him, but this feels disrespectful to what Anadius stood for as a person." I get where they're coming from as a longtime Simmer myself – although I obviously can't just advocate for piracy outright. But, it's tough out here, folks.

It's especially tough as a Sims stan, from the thousands of dollars of expansions to the fact that we aren't getting another mainline game, as EA admitted in the past that it has no plans for a Sims 5 – and Anadius's departure feels like another nail in the coffin.

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