The long-awaited free skin tone update for The Sims 4 has released a day early, so hop on to see all the new content.
It's here - and a day early! Today, a free game update brings you 100+ skin tones, customization tools for skin tones and makeup, three improved base game hairstyles, and a main menu makeover. Available now to all The Sims 4 players! pic.twitter.com/p7QIIkI74dDecember 7, 2020
As we previously reported, this free update seeks to fix a skin tone problem that has plagued The Sims 4 since its 2014 release and was recently addressed by The Sims 4 Lyndsay Pearson. The game has a long history of inaccurately representing dark skin tones with middling options in terms of variety. Black Simmers have pointed this issue out repeatedly for over five years, along with the lack of appropriate hairstyle options.
After acknowledging the issue and promising a fix, The Sims 4 team elaborated on their plans to address the skin tone issue back in September with a free update to the base game that would arrive on December 8. That update has gone live a day early, so hop onto The Sims 4 now to check out the strides EA has made towards a better representation of the Sims community.
The update includes more than 100 new skin tone swatches in a variety of cool, neutral, and warm tones with a slider on each swatch to further modify every skin tone. The team also improved new and existing skin tones, "including strengthening the quality of suntans and sunburns." There's also makeup sliders to adjust colors so that they better suit different skin tones (although some are locked "for a better gameplay experience") and an improvement on three base game hairstyles. The main menu has gotten a makeover as well.
The Sims 4 team worked closely with high-profile Simmers like @Xmiramira, @EbonixSims, @MiaZaff1, and more, who provided feedback throughout the process.
Check out our interview with SimGuruGrham on the future of The Sims 4.
