The Sims 4, EA's long-running life simulation game, received new pronoun options with the release of a new update that was made available yesterday for the game.
The Sims 4 update will allow players to set their Sims' pronouns, including ones that are unique to them, without the need to use any third-party mods on any of the platforms on which the game is available.
This is not the first time the game has embraced representation. Since launching the game in 2000, it has always allowed same-sex relationships.
The Sims franchise has garnered praise for its inclusion of a more diverse cast of characters than the vast majority of other AAA video games. Ever since then, developers have been actively working to improve various aspects of the game, including cultural and racial diversity, gender representation, and more.
With today's recent update, this will add custom pronouns, which will further improve players' ability to see themselves as characters in The Sims.
The Sims 4 Update: Pronouns
Before this Sims 4 update, players could change a variety of gender-related options, including whether a Sim preferred to dress in masculine or feminine clothes and whether or not, in 2016, the game added the option for players to become pregnant.
There was difficulty and no other option for people to create non-binary or genderfluid Sims because players were forced to choose between male and female pronouns regardless of which options they selected for their Sims' gender identity.
However, all of that is a thing of the past. The player's chosen pronouns will now be used throughout the entirety of the game, including in pop-up notifications and menus.
A brand new update to The Sims 4 is here ✨, & with the help of the @ItGetsBetter Project & @GLAAD, players can now add custom pronouns to their Sims in Create A Sim 🎉 pic.twitter.com/D5N1gvfNNc
— The Sims (@TheSims) May 24, 2022
This is a significant advance toward the goal of making a franchise that has already been fairly progressive more open and available to everyone. Players now have the option to give a Sim a "they" or "them" pronoun or even create their own unique pronoun.
As reported by Kotaku, this initiative was made in cooperation with the LGBTQ advocacy organizations GLAAD and It Gets Better Project. They worked with Maxis to determine the most effective way to implement the feature.
How To Customize Your Sims Pronouns
Here are the steps for creating and customizing your Sims in the game, according to EA.
1. First, go to Create a Sim, then click 'Hello, my name and pronouns are...'
2. After that, a name input screen will be displayed. Players will also notice an area for pronouns right next to the name fields on this page.
3. Players can then choose from the selected choices.
- They/Them
- She/Her,
- He/Him,
- Custom
4. However, if players want to use pronouns that are not included in the options given, they will be able to create custom versions of the pronouns they want to use by inputting the subjective, objective, possessive dependent, possessive independent, and reflexive forms of the pronouns they want to use.
5. After the players have entered their pronouns, those pronouns will be saved to their Sims, and the game will automatically update itself to use the correct pronouns wherever possible.
This pronouns update to the game was first unveiled and teased by the developers back in January, and now it has finally come to life.
EA reported that the newly updated pronouns are only available in English for now. However, the company stated that they are planning to expand this across the 18 languages that are currently featured in The Sims 4.
