‘The Sims 4’ adds fan-requested customisable pronouns

The Sims 4 developer Maxis has added customisable pronouns to the game, and has shared a blog outlining how the feature will work.

In an article posted yesterday (May 24), Maxis outlined how it has been working to implement customisable pronouns in The Sims 4, a feature that was requested by 22,857 fans last year (via Eurogamer).

“We reached out to the It Gets Better Project and GLAAD and worked with them to learn more about how pronouns are used, particularly by trans and nonbinary people. Through this research and through doing a deep dive into the game, we’ve learned about all of the different complex areas that binary gender was present in The Sims 4. From here we then worked with our team to come up with some wireframe designs to help us work on making this feature a reality,” explained Maxis.

Since researching the topic, Maxis has now launched customisable pronouns for those playing the game in English. To use customisable pronouns in The Sims 4, players can open the “Create a Sim” menu and select the option “Hello, my name and pronouns are…”

Players will then be given the choice of selecting between they/them, she/her, he/him, or a custom option that allows them to choose which words are used as their pronouns.

For now the feature is only available in English language versions only, but Maxis has shared that “our intent is to update and expand this feature over time”. This includes bringing the feature to more languages, but Maxis says it needs “additional time” to apply the right grammar rules to each language.

Earlier in the year, Maxis explained why it was important to bring customisable pronouns to The Sims 4.

“I just know that giving people a space to play in The Sims and play with pronouns and be who they want to be just gives them so much room to explore and find themselves and be their true authentic selves. Especially in a society where they might not be able to in real life,” shared game designer Rachel Gilbert.

In other gaming news, V Rising is coming to Linux and Steam Deck platforms, and has sold 1million copies since launching earlier in the month.