This recognition likely arises from the team “collaborating with external partners, including talented and diverse community members” as part of the update process. The actionable items and language used in the announcement speak to an increased awareness of the variety and undertones in Black skin colors. December’s bigger update will, in addition, “include another two improved base game hairstyles.” Makeup sliders will also be introduced so that players can create Sims with makeup that truly complements their (hopefully) more authentically represented skin tone. In that light, it is worth noting that, by December of this year, The Sims 4 team has committed to “rolling out at least a hundred new skin tone swatches in cool, neutral, and warm tones with a particular emphasis on darker skin tones.” New and existing swatches will all be accompanied by a slider so that each tone can be modified to be lighter or darker.

Given that the Sims 4 concept art for the afro was literally modeled from a cauliflower, the “ failure of care” when it comes to the respectful depiction of Black skin and hair is significant, obvious, and must continue being taken seriously if the team is to keep its word. This update will also include improvements to “two of the base game hairstyles,” and while the announcement doesn’t specify which, we are presumably meant to assume these improvements will pertain to Black hairstyles as well. That said, the commitments made in the recent announcement are both significant and representative of a clearly actionable work plan, which - while sorely belated - offer greater improvements than many Sims community members were expecting.īy October 6th for Mac and PC players, and November 10th for console players, The Sims 4 team will have released a free update to the base game resolving the long-criticized issues with “blotchy artifacts and ashy appearance of darker skin tones.” Recognizing that fact, it’s vital that community members and journalism outlets continue holding The Sims 4 team accountable for their promises as this process moves forward through its next stages.

This commitment came in the wake of years of critiques and requests from Black Simmers and Simmers of color, in many ways only gaining traction with EA and the Sim Gurus when white members of the Sims community began speaking up. On September 23rd, The Sims 4 team came forward with an announcement pertaining to the next steps of their previous commitment to improving skin tones and hairstyles for Black sims in-game.

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