The Sims 4 developer Maxis has announced that customizable genders are on the way. The announcement was shared during its official Sims 4 livestream, in which key members of The Sims team sat down with various gender researchers to discuss the update–as well as show off how it might look once implemented.
While the team made it clear the shared footage is still in development and is therefore subject to change, as of right now it appears the feature will make its way into The Sims 4 in the shape of an additional drop box players fill out during the Create A Sim phase of the game. Upon selecting the drop box, players will be given the option to write in three pronouns for their sims. Once inserted, the pronouns will then be populated into a series of sentences in an effort to ensure everything is grammatically sound. SimGuruDuck, a producer on The Sims 4, says the update is part of the team’s efforts to create a more inclusive experience for players and work towards “a fully inclusive society.”
“In our world today, we believe that gender neutrality plays a critical part in working towards a fully inclusive society.” SimGuruDuck said. “This Sims continues to evolve and we as a team continue to learn and work on making our game more inclusive, step by step, and day by day.”
SimGuruDuck went on to emphasize the new feature is a work in progress, with the team taking careful measures to consult with gender neutral language advisors and doing its research prior to any changes being rolled out.
The update comes nearly six years after The Sims 4 opened up all its various Create A Sim options to all genders, allowing players to adjust their sims clothing, hair, and physical features without any gender-imposed restrictions. While this addition was certainly a leap forward at the time, granting players unprecedented control over their sims physiology and gender expression, users were still ultimately resigned to select from two genders: male and female.
As of right now, the team has yet to announce a release date for the free upgrade, though it seems safe to assume we’ll be hearing more about it later this year. However, the team did confirm that the custom pronouns update will be coming to the English version of The Sims 4 first, followed shortly by the game’s 17 other language versions.
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