'The Sims 4' has been hit by a bug that sees Sims age too quickly.

Developers Maxis made players know they are aware of the issue and they are currently working on a long-term solution.

The bug came with a new update launched ahead of the release of the 'High School Years' expansion pack on Thursday (28.07.22).

They tweeted: "We are currently investigating instances involving Sims auto-aging up in saves using the Short or Long lifespan.

“We recommend temporarily playing in or creating new saves with the default/'normal’ lifespan, as we work towards a solution.”

Last summer, it was announced that 'The Sims 4' would be getting a "tiny overhaul" after fan complaints about increasingly lighter skin tones for NPCs.

Non-playable characters are characters that cannot be played by the player from the game's start and fans were upset as their skin tones had gotten lighter in comparison to older games.

During an Inside Maxis stream, two members of the team, Ash and SimGuruGeorge, responded to the criticism with Ash saying: "Hundreds of townies have come to life since the first Sims game launched 21 years ago. A lot of love has been put into every single one of them, and we acknowledge that they need continued care and attention.

"So it's about time for a tiny overhaul. We are currently in the process of updating NPCs in 'The Sims 4' including visuals as well as their lore.

"This will take some time to accomplish as we have to spend some quality time with each and every single Sim from Willow Creek to Henford-on-Bagley. That means we're taking it step-by-step – or townie by townie – and we're excited to update you at a later date."