The new Sims 4 update is an existential nightmare

Most of us play video games for a touch of escapism; to avoid thinking about the unstoppable marching of time that is slowly guiding us all towards an inevitable death. But a new update for The Sims 4 comes complete with a bug that's forcing gamers to confront their mortality.

The glitch is causing Sims to age faster than normal. Kids are becoming teens, teens are becoming adults, and some elderly Sims are dropping dead on the spot. The horror! (Want to start gaming right now? Check out the best Nintendo Switch deals.)

While some might believe the whole point of the game is to place your Sim in a pool then remove the ladders and build a fence around it (just me?), others like to spend time nurturing their beloved avatars instead of deliberately killing them off. And so the bug is naturally causing quite a bit of consternation among the 'Simmers' community. One gamer even reported their wedding guests "dropping like flies," which sounds decidedly Game of Thrones.

Oh, and the horror doesn't end there. Gamers have also noticed that the 'High School Never Ends' update has also accidentally introduced the concept of incest to the world of The Sims, with characters expressing 'whims' to date their own relatives. What a time to be a Sim, eh? 

Thankfully, it seems the Sims 4 team is working on the issues. Speaking of the bugs, Sims 4 quality designer @SimGuruNick says, "I just wanted to acknowledge that the Want to date a family member is something we know about, we’ve reproduced ourselves." (Interesting choice of phrase there.)

So there we have it – it's been a wild day in the world of The Sims, and these bugs are up there with those grotesque Gran Turismo 7 characters. Indeed, from the botched GTA: Remastered character models to the PlayStation logo from behind, we've seen a few cursed gaming images lately. And if all of the above has got you in the mood to start playing, check out today's best games console deals below.