Today, The Sims 4 developer Maxis has announced a free update to the game that will add a Vitiligo skin feature in Create-a-Sim.
The feature will allow players to customize Sims of all ages with Vitiligo skin details, including patches for the face, upper torso, lower torso, arms, and legs. Some examples can be seen below:
Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes a person's skin to lose color in patches, and which affects roughly 70 million people worldwide. Though rarely represented in video games, some more recent releases such as Baldur's Gate 3, Disney Dreamlight Valley, and others have included it as an option in character creators. And Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 featured a character named Nova with Vitiligo, with skin based on real-life model Abena.
Previously, a number of mods for The Sims 4 allowed players to create Sims with Vitiligo, but this is the first time it's been included as an option in the base game.
“It’s magical to see The Sims 4 team introduce this new Vitiligo feature,” said Canadian model Winnie Harlow, who is publicly promoting the update in partnership with Maxis. “As a child, I spent a lot of time playing The Sims and I think it’s so beautiful to be able to represent your true self in-game. This partnership is a powerful statement encouraging players to embrace what makes them unique – both in-game and in real life.”
The Sims 4 has been adding a number of free updates in recent years to help players better represent themselves, including the ability to customize a Sim's pronouns and sexual orientation. The next generation of The Sims, dubbed Project Rene, is currently in development.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
