EA has apologized to the Sims community after acknowledging that its recent Behind The Sims summit did not feature broad enough representation for black creators of the game of life during its creator segments. The event, held on October 18, featured the reveal of The Sims 5 as Project Rene, as well as detailing some of the upcoming Sims 4 expansion packs players can look forward to.
The creator of The Sims, Ebonix, who is also a co-founder of Black Twitch UK, took to twitter to express disappointment that the creator reel showcasing some of the top members of The Sims creative community only featured a single black creator, Stephen ‘SpringSims’ Works. His frustrations are echoed by many other creators, leading to a response from EA on The Sims official Twitter account.
Addressing Ebonix directly, the account tweet, “You are right in your frustrations, and we let you down. We owe it to you and every one of our Black creators and players to make sure you are seen and celebrated for all you bring to The Sims.” The account also posted a statement as a public quote tweet from the original Ebonix thread, declaring that “Our creator segments during the Behind The Sims summit did not fairly represent our vast community of players.”
EA continues, saying that “The Black Simmers deserve to feel seen in everything we do in The Sims, so we take responsibility for this mistake and will do better in the future.” Ebonix addresses the answer, Saying that “Accountability is the first step, but we know that accountability without action is just a sold dream. The voices I heard coming from the community sound crystal clear. There has to be a genuinely meaningful action. Not caused by these circumstances. We will see!”
Other creators echo the need to take more action. Twitch Ambassador Hannah ‘lomadia’ Rutherford add, “I see black creators constantly busting their butts over your game, and they’ve been doing it for years. It’s mostly how I follow The Sims news. The fact that you missed this in 2022 and in UK Black History Month is mind blowing.” other fans ask ea hire more black creators and marketing members for your team, and consider Introduce more cultural elements to The Sims to represent areas such as African culture.
During our The Sims: Project Rene interview, executive producer Phill Ring says the team is always asking, “How can we make players feel more connected to the Sims they create?” He emphasizes his excitement because “players are so excited about the fact that they can create themselves, they can create their friends, they can create the world around them.” The community, it seems, is more eager than ever to make sure EA lives up to this promise. In closing, Ebonix shared a petition on Change.org asking EA to “improve black representation and recognize black culture in The Sims 4.”
We recently spoke to Riot Games about new League of Legends champion K’Sante and his identity as a black, queer character. If you’re looking for more news on Project Rene and the future of The Sims, be sure to check out our Sims 5 release date speculation and wish list for all the latest news. In the meantime, if you’re trying out The Sims 4 now that it’s free to play, we’ve got you covered with unlimited money and more with all The Sims 4 cheats, how to mod your game with the best Sims 4 mods, and which CC to install with. our pick of the best Sims 4 CC packs. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, download The Sims 4 for free by following that link.
