The Sims announces 100 skin tone options in new game after campaign pushes for better representation

After years of campaigning the gaming giant has finally listened – The Sims 4 has now added its biggest ever range of skin tones for players to enjoy.

For a game that crossed the billion dollar threshold last year, it’s about time something like this was implemented.

The game will now give players over 100 skin tone options, recategorised to complement warmer and cooler colours. Each skin tone also features a value slider which expands the breadth to allow users to customise even further.

It’s a win for the many internet personalities that have campaigned for a change of this kind for years. The Sims 4 Twitter account has thanked those involved in the consultation process for this move.

One of those involved was Amira Virgil, better known by her Youtube channel Xmiramira. 

She has been a prominent campaigner for diversity in gaming for years, with over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube and a Twitch streaming partnership.

Amira was responsible for the famous Melanin custom content pack, where she took it upon herself to improve the game’s selection of skin tones several years ago, and took to Twitter to express her joy at the new update.

It has been a bumpy road for fans of the game since its most recent instalment dropped six years ago.

Longtime developer Maxis made clothing, hair and makeup unisex a few years ago for gender inclusivity, as well as a skintone update back in 2018 that left many underwhelmed.

There have been murmurs that the next installment of the franchise is currently in development – let's hope players never have to wait this long for adequate representation again.

MORE: Too old for Animal Crossing?