The Sims franchise turned 20 at the beginning of this year, with its latest installment, The Sims 4, breaking records as its longest series to date. The premise of the games has always been to “play with life,” but as time passed, some players found their gaming experience lacking. It became apparent that some players, especially BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) couldn’t accurately depict what they, and others like them, look like in The Sims 4 because the dark skin tones were, put delicately, cosmetically displeasing.
After a rallying of online support and Simmer Xmiramira calling attention to the lack of quality dark skin tones in-game on The Sims Spark’d, The Sims Team decided to overhaul its skin tone system. Getting the help of community members like Xmiramira and EbonixSims, who had experience creating beautiful CC (Custom Content) skintones showed the team’s dedication to making sure The Sims community got the accurate representation it was lacking. The skin tone update came in two waves: the first caused some major controversy, but the second was exactly what the community needed. Well, almost exactly.
Pixelated Problems
The newest update to The Sims 4 came a day early and added over 100 different skin tones to the game. There are 4 color categories: warm, neutral, cool, and miscellaneous. Each skin tone can be adjusted on a color slider as well, letting players find the perfect match for their vision. The update also added color sliders to makeup so players can adjust things like saturation and opacity to match skin tones exactly. Players can also save the custom skin tones they create for easy access later on.
One of the biggest concerns of the old skin tones was how dingy, pixelated, and ashy they looked. If players wanted to make a Sim that reflected them or someone in their life with dark skin, they’d have to settle for ugly in-game skin tones or download CC skin tones that corrected both appearance and lack of color options. Now, thanks to the update, players can choose and create the perfect skin tones to add accurate representation and diversity to their games.
However, some players have noticed that though their new Sims look pretty in CAS (Create-a-Sim mode), the graphics don’t hold up when playing the game. The same pixelated blotches that plagued the original skin tones come back on new Sims, seemingly in the same places. Noses and cheeks are primary examples of where the pixels emerge, prominently different and discolored compared to the rest of the Sim’s face. Hopefully The Sims Team fixes this issue soon.
Don’t Blame Genetics
Except in this case, players can blame genetics for lack of diversified skin tones. Theoretically, what should happen when two Sims have a child together is a custom skin tone that can range anywhere to as dark as one parent to as light as the other, or somewhere in the middle. Real-life genetics can be wild, and while The Sims 4 can’t capture all of its eccentricities, it should at least encompass the accurate probability of skin color.
It’s been well-documented that the genetics in The Sims 4 have always gravitated toward producing a lighter skinned child when a Sim with dark toned skin has a child with a lighter toned Sim. There was probably no malicious intent behind this happening, but players are understandably disappointed that the “random genetics” that occur during Sim reproduction don’t accurately reflect how skin tone probability works. In response to players pointing this out, The Sims Team issued a statement to say it’s working on fixing this genetic oversight.
The Sims 4 has come a long way since its release 6 years ago, and it’s refreshing to see The Sims Team tackle the skin tone issues head-on. Some argue that the skin tones should have been integrated like this at the launch of the game, but some also say it’s better late than never.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.