The Sims 4 finally adds toddlers

There are very few games out there capable of announcing the introduction of vampires at the beginning of the week, before announcing the addition of toddlers at the week's end. The Sims is one of these games, and its fourth main series instalment has now revealed that, after two years of waiting, toddlers are here.

"I'm not exaggerating when I say we've been talking about this particular update for years," says The Sims 4's executive producer Lyndsay Pearson in an update post. "We just had to find the right time, resources and design to allow us to start the heavy process of actually building and bringing Toddlers to life. And believe me when I say it has been really REALLY difficult to not talk about this as we worked to get it right."

Pearson continues to suggest that while she and her team can't always address every player request, toddlers were high on the list of wanted features. She claims this particular life stage has been in the works for a while and that she thinks players are "really going to love how interactive they are."

In typical reality-mirroring style, playable Sims in The Sims 4 will help toddlers learn to talk and dance, and will help them develop new skills—such as potty training—by virtue of flash cards. Physically carrying toddlers and reading them bedtime stories will also help you bond with your tikes, so too will "babbling away about trucks," apparently.

"We've added over a hundred new animations, dozens of new interactions, and great new suites of outfits and objects," Pearson adds. "But most importantly, we've bridged a really meaningful part of your Sims' lives."

Assuming you own The Sims 4, the Toddler update is free to download right now. The incoming vampire update, on the other hand, is due later this month.