Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/EA
First, I have to confess that I have not played The Sims—any version—in at least two years. While I do own The Sims 4, I rarely boot it up and have not played regularly since I was teenager. So, it has been a while. This, however, does not change how meaningful the game or its latest update is to me.
On Tuesday, Electronic Arts (EA) announced a big update to The Sims 4 that included some ground-breaking transgender inclusive options. With this new update players can make Sims (teen and older) that wear binders or have top surgery scars. The update also allows players to create Sims with medical wearables such as hearing aids and glucose monitors.
For those unfamiliar with the wonderful game that is The Sims, let me explain what exactly this all means. The first ever The Sims was released in 2000 for PCs and became a massive hit for EA. In the game, players create virtual people called Sims and control them as they go about their lives in a neighborhood full of AI non-player characters (NPCs).