“The Sims 4″ introduced a new gender customization option that will allow users to create characters without the gender boundaries that were previously set.
“Sims” developer Electronic Arts announced the progressive update on Twitter on Thursday.
We are proud to introduce gender customization in #TheSims4: https://t.co/hxBWX4IBhL pic.twitter.com/sjk81OfC7v
— Electronic Arts (@EA) June 2, 2016
“For more than 16 years, ‘The Sims’ franchise has empowered players to express themselves through open gameplay and endless customization,” reads a release on “The Sims” website. “That’s why we’re so excited that today’s free update to ‘The Sims 4’ features an expanded Create A Sim mode with new gender customization options, and gives our players even more ways to play with life.”
The release also said that more than 700 content elements that used to be exclusive to a player’s base gender are now available for both sexes.
“Female Sims can wear sharp men’s suits like Ellen [DeGeneres], and male Sims can wear heels like Prince,” “Sims 4” executive producer Rachel Franklin told the Associated Press. She also said this update has been in development for over a year.
Users can now choose the same options for traits like physique, tone of voice and walking style regardless of gender. Clothes, hairstyles and accessories are no longer gender-specific as well.
“‘The Sims’ is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it’s really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games,” reads the release. “We want to make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sim’s gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more.”
“So, no matter how you like to play, we hope this update to Create-A-Sim gives you plenty of new options. Personally, we’ve had a ton of fun exploring how good many of the short hair male hairstyles look on the female Sims, and vice versa. And we’re just getting started checking out how outfits and styles look on totally different body types.”
Though “The Sims” has allowed same-sex relationships since the original game was released in 2000 and same-sex marriages since “The Sims 3” in 2009, this is the first time players can create characters across the gender identification spectrum.
