The Sims 4 is the latest installment in The Sims franchise. The fourth installment was released in 2014, but Maxis and EA continue to release new content with no plans on stopping soon.
Since the game launched, some players have criticized the developer and publisher on the lack of diverse skin tones, hair colors, and other Create-a-Sim (CAS) options. While PC players could simply add in custom content, console players don’t have that option.
A few months ago, Maxis responded to player’s criticisms with a promise to begin work on implementing those additions. The team stated it was a journey and not a goal, so they would work on updating the game with new content and reworking older CAS items.
In a new blog post, The Sims team has outlined a schedule of updates coming within the next few months. The first update will occur on October 6 for PC and on November 10 for consoles. The update will modify two existing hairstyles and add more skin tones.
Simmers, our team is improving existing skin tones and adding more in the next few months. Get the details on our upcoming base game updates and what you can expect before the end of the year: https://t.co/3cEvUWJX1E
— The Sims (@TheSims) September 23, 2020
Before players can implement the new options, they’ll have to enable “Uncompressed Sim Textures” in their Game Options first. Players should check before the update to see if the option is turned on, or if their systems can handle it.
The next update in December doesn’t have a set date but will contain a major update. The update contains over 100 skin tones in cool, neutral, and warm tones. Once players have selected a skin tone, they can adjust the color further with a slider with darker or lighter values. The skin tone update will also update past skin tones. The Sims team emphasized that they paid careful attention to darker skin tones.
In addition to skin tones, The Sims team is adding new makeup sliders in CAS. Players will have more customization options available for Sims who choose to wear makeup.
The Sims team mentioned they’re working with outside partners, like The Sims community, to give feedback and suggestions on the new updates.
Since it’s release, many players criticized removing a color wheel that was previously in The Sims 3. Many still compare the features in TS3 to TS4.
Although the update won’t include a color wheel for furniture, the upcoming updates are the first step into making the game more diverse for both PC and console players.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.