A new update will add improved skin tones, hairstyles and makeup options to The Sims 4 after publisher Electronic Arts (EA) received criticism for a lack of diversity in Create-A-Sim mode.The news originally came from a leaked webpage from the Spanish EA Answers page, which was picked up and translated by Sims Community and confirmed by EA. The update, which will release on Oct. 6 for PC and Nov. 10 for consoles, will improve the "blotchy artifacts and ashy appearance of darker skin tones on mid and high spec machines." The base game will also receive two updated hairstyles.In December, a second update will add "at least a hundred new skin tone swatches in cool, neutral, and warm tones with a particular emphasis on darker skin tones." A slider will also be introduced for skin and makeup, allowing players "to modify each selected tone to be lighter or darker." Finally, the December update will also update two more hairstyles.Many fans felt that The Sims 4 was a step down from The Sims 3 in several ways. They especially pointed to the removal of the color wheel feature that allowed players to change the color of skin, hair, eyes and clothing. As a result, the demand for more diverse skin tones and hairstyles has been steadily increasing since the game launched in 2014. Last month, the Sims team acknowledged player concerns in a video shared by executive producer Lyndsay Pearson.
"Inclusivity is at the core of The Sims franchise," she stated. "From the beginning, we set out to let you build Sims that look like you or people you know. And we understand that right now it doesn't feel like we're truly living up to that promise. We hear you and recognize that we have not done enough to address the variety of skin tones and hair styles that you expect to find in The Sims 4."