Fans of The Sims 4 have been very vocal in expressing their disappointment with some of the content packs developer Maxis has chosen to prioritize recently. One of the features players have long clamored for is more variety in the skin tone options for their Sims, particularly darker tones that currently have a tendency to look chalky or ashy. It seems that, in this regard at least, fans may soon receive their wish.
A press release on Electronic Arts’ official Sims 4 blog has revealed that a number of updates to improve the overall appearance and customization options for players’ Sims will begin to roll out early next month. First, the blotchy artifacts that give darker skin tones an ashy appearance on mid to high-end machines will be addressed in a base game update that will launch on October 6 for PC and Mac and November 10 for consoles.
An update planned for December will add at least a hundred new skin tones for The Sims 4 in cool, neutral and warm shades, with particular attention given to darker skin tones. To further give players the ability to customize their selected tone, each swatch will also now have a slider that allows additional lightening or darkening of that particular color.
To complement this long-awaited new array of skin tones, sliders for makeup will be making an appearance in The Sims 4 Create-A-Sim mode as well. And two of the game’s base hairstyles will also be improved in the December update.
In January, a poll was released on a digital gaming news outlet that asked The Sims 4 players what packs and updates they would most like to see added to the game. Tens of thousands of players voted for 21 provided options, including hotels, school life, cars, hobbies, weddings and farming. Receiving the least number of votes was Star Wars. Despite this, just last month, EA released the Star Wars Journey to Batuu Pack for The Sims 4. Needless to say, the backlash on social media was loud and rife with disappointment.
The Sims 4 players angrily pointed out that they have long been asking for bug fixes, babies that aren’t essentially objects, and of course a wider selection of skin tones including dark colors that aren’t ashy. People began to ask other players to boycott the Star Wars pack, hoping to get EA’s attention by hurting its wallet. Whether gamers successfully boycotted Journey to Batuu or EA already had a skin tone pack planned is unknown. But players will soon have both the skin tone pack they desired and the The Sims 4 Star Wars DLC many didn’t ask for.
The Sims 4 is available on OS X, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: The Sims 4 Blog