The Sims is one of many iconic games that has shaped the industry. For many years, fans have enjoyed making their friends and other characters from their imaginations live together in a small town where they control most, if not all, of their actions. The Sims has always allowed players to have their Sims romance others of the same sex since the original title, but The Sims 4 will soon get an update that changes the sexual orientation of Sims, and even allows players to customize which gender they're attracted to.
Over the last few years, the Sims 4 has slowly added features that allow LGBT players to customize their Sims to be a little more like them in regard to their identities. A patch released in 2016 allowed players to customize their Sims' gender in many ways, such as making voice options not limited to gender. While this has allowed players to easily make trans Sims, a recent update last May introduced customizable pronouns. This meant that players could have Sims be referred to with any pronouns they desired.
EA has revealed that the next step toward including different LGBT identities in The Sims 4 is coming in a free update that will release with the High School Years expansion on July 28. This update will allow players to customize the sexual orientation of their Sims. While same-sex relationships were always possible in the series, this new update will mark the first time players can actively make a Sim be interested in only guys or girls specifically.
In EA's article that details what fans can expect from the sexual orientation update, it even mentions Sims can now be designated to have no interest in sex at all once the patch is installed. However, asexual Sims will also be able to ask others to become "WooHoo Partners," making the interaction separate from romantic interactions while also staying true to how some asexual people behave in real life.
The post about the update also includes an apology from EA on the fact that "non-binary Sims don’t yet exist in TS4." This refers to how players are still asked to choose between two genders when creating a Sim. This was the system the game started out with in 2014, and creating "proper mechanical systems to fully support non-binary Sims is another step in that journey" towards inclusivity.
Once the update launches, these settings will make Sims still romance any other person possible, which is similar to how the in-game characters used to act before. However, for those not interested in these options, EA is sticking with its decision as the feature can't be turned off as "LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off."
The Sims 4 is currently available on PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: EA.com
