A new Sims 4 update released yesterday added new pronoun options to the latest entry in EA’s long-running life simulator. With this update, players will be able to set their Sims’ pronouns, including completely custom ones, without the use of mods across all platforms that The Sims 4 is available on.
The long-awaited feature was first teased back in January, when EA and Sims developer Maxis first announced plans to add more pronouns to The Sims 4. Before this update, gender and pronouns in The Sims 4 worked the same way as in past Sims games, locking each Sim to a binary choice between he/she and him/her. Now, players can choose to give a Sim they/them or even create custom pronouns.
The new options can be found in the Create-a-Sim section of the game, where you build characters to play with in-game. Previously, the top-left of this section featured an option titled “Hello, my name is …” and players could name their Sim. Now, that button has been tweaked and reads “Hello, my name and pronouns are ….”. Making your pronouns is a bit complicated—quick, do you know what a possessive dependent pronoun is?—but EA has added some example sentences to help folks create their own pronouns easily.
EA also confirmed you can change your Sims’ pronouns whenever you want.
This new update was created with the help of GLAAD and the It Gets Better Project. Before the update, players could alter different gender options, such as if a Sim preferred masculine or feminine clothes, or if they could get pregnant. (This was all added in 2016.) But no matter what options players picked, they would still have to settle on male or female pronouns, making it difficult and frustrating for folks to create non-binary or genderfluid Sims. Now, the game will use player-specified pronouns throughout, including during pop-up notifications and in menus. This is a big step forward toward making an already fairly progressive franchise more open and accessible to all.
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However, EA does caution that the team is still working to improve the update. It warns that some grammar issues could appear during certain parts of the game due to how pronouns are handled and how complex The Sims 4 is.
EA also explained that the new update is only available in English, though it has plans to add the new pronoun options to more languages in the future. Still, it’s a big and welcomed change that will benefit many players and let them truly be themselves in-game. The update is out now across all platforms.
