The Sims 4release date window has been announced by EA. The previous release date given by EA had been 2014, but now we’ve got a slightly clearer idea of when the next installment of the ever-popular franchise will ship.

In a press release, The Sims publishers, EA, revealed that The Sims 4 release date window is set for Fall 2014.

Vice President and General Manager of Maxis’ The Sims Studio, Rachel Franklin, spoke about the launch window. “The Sims franchise has the best fans in the world and their passion and enthusiasm is at an all-time high. Those millions of voices will fuel our development process, helping The Sims 4 to be the most ambitious and the best game our studio has ever made. We can’t wait to see our fans reaction when The Sims 4 comes out in autumn 2014.”

The full press release is available to read here.

The Sims 4 was officially revealed by Maxis and EA earlier this year, although the game’s development was no great secret. The Create-A-Sim element of the game was shown off at gaming conventions during the summer, with convention attendees able to try out a demo of the Sim creation for themselves for the first time at Gamescom in Germany.

The revamped Create-A-Sim will allow Simmers to sculpt their Sims to easily change their proportions, an approach which Maxis believes is more intuitive than using dozens of separate sliders, as we’re used to in previous iterations of The Sims.

Further small improvements have been made: hats can be worn with any hairstyle, jeans will tuck into boots where appropriate, and players will be able to choose between several different walk styles for their Sims.

A first trailer for the game appeared in August. Further details about skills, group dynamics and animations have also emerged.

We don’t expect to hear about a precise release date for The Sims 4 until around a month before it eventually launches.