Over 20,000 The Sims 4 players are formally petitioning EA to add gender-neutral pronouns in an effort to make the game more inclusive.
Back in 2016, The Sims 4 made it so that your Sims' physique, walk style, and tone of voice weren't tied to their gender. A petition quickly gaining steam on Change.org acknowledges the game's existing options for inclusivity, but argues for gender-neutral pronouns to properly refer to Transgender and Non-Binary sims.
"The Sims 4 has come a long way for members of the LGBTQIA2+ community by letting us customize gender options for our sims," reads the petition started by Twitch streamer Momo Misfortune, who is Non-Binary. "However we are still missing representation for our Transgender and Non-Binary sims."
The petition is just a few thousand signatures away from its 25,000 goal, which would make it one of the top-signed on Change. Ultimately, it calls for EA to allow players to choose their Sims' pronouns and for gender-neutral pronouns (they/them) to be included in the options. Alternatively, the petition suggests EA could retroactively change existing dialogue to refer to all Sims using gender-neutral language, though Momo Misfortunate acknowledges the challenges that might pose for translating to other language options.
"Even if this doesn't get added into The Sims 4, I hope by creating this petition it will show EA and The Sims team how something like this would be beneficial to adding into The Sims 5," the petition concludes.
Following the publication of this report, an EA spokesperson reached out to GamesRadar and acknowledged Momo Misfortune's petition. The Sims 4 development team also sent over the following statement, which was originally published in May.
"When it comes to representation, it's not a destination, it's a journey that we are continuously working towards across the board. We've seen and read your comments regarding Non-Binary Pronouns and their availability in-game.
At this time, we can't confirm anything in regards to timing, but what we can say is that for a long time our team has been evaluating ways to add gender-neutral language while considering how complex it would be to do so. Currently, we've been investigating the changes needed considering not only the size of our game, but the possibilities for all of our 18 supported languages to make sure that we do this work the best way possible. This is super important to all of us, which means we want to make sure we do it right.
Thank you all for the continued support of a truly representative environment in-game. We are hopeful for the future and look forward to sharing progress when we are able to as well as our future plans for this aspect and others across the game."
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