The Sims 4 is *finally* upgrading their skin tone range next month, in what can only be described as a huge win for diversity in gaming.
Developers announced the exciting news in a statement on the website on Thursday, with over 100 new skin tones to choose from.
Simmers, our team is improving existing skin tones and adding more in the next few months. Get the details on our upcoming base game updates and what you can expect before the end of the year: https://t.co/3cEvUWJX1E
— The Sims (@TheSims) September 23, 2020
“Bigger changers are coming! In December, we’ll be rolling out at least a hundred new skin tone swatches in cool, neutral, and warm tones with a particular emphasis on darker skin tones. Beyond the new additions, we are introducing a slider on all swatches, both new and existing, that will allow you to modify each selected tone to be lighter or darker,” the statement read.
“We’ve heard your feedback on makeup as well. To truly complement the expanded library of skin tones launching in December, we’ll also be adding new sliders for makeup in Create-A-Sim mode. The updated customization options will offer an entirely new level of control of your Sim’s appearance so they can look as flawless as possible.”
The new skin tones will be available from October 6 on Mac/PC and November 10 for console gamers.
In addition to improving the range of skin tones, The Sims 4 are also introducing two new base game hairstyles to help improve representation of all people in game.
Obviously, two hairstyles isn’t a lot, but it seems to be a step in the right direction after years of fans asking for it.
https://twitter.com/dibz1818/status/1308863506058534921
https://twitter.com/vntgestars/status/1308864126110793730
As you’d expect, the reaction online has been mixed, with many expressing their excitement for the new update, while others remain disappointed that it took so long for the change to happen.
The new announcement is a huge win for the community, especially for the larger creators who have spent months using their platform to call the developers out on the lack of diversity in the game.
Here’s hoping we’ll continue to see a commitment to improving representation in-game moving forward.
