The Sims has always been a very progressive gaming franchise. Back in 2000, the game made waves in E3 after two female characters were seen kissing each other in a simulation. Since then, The Sims had been a game where gender neutrality was a possibility. Now, the popular life simulation game is going further, removing binary gender categories for clothes, hairstyles, accessories and other physical characteristics in its character customization options for its flagship title, The Sims 4.

The game already has a very robust and flexible character customization feature, but with the update, players who are creating biologically male characters could have their avatars wear feminine clothes such as high heels, and biologically female characters could be designed with very short cropped hair and a three-piece suit. A lot of the game's players are known to have a tendency to model their avatars after themselves. Thus, with the update, gamers who are part of the LGBTQ community would have a far easier time designing their characters than ever before.

Maxis, the EA subsidiary in charge of the game's creation and development, asserted the firm's open stance on gender neutrality and freedom of expression on an announcement in its official blog.

"The Sims is made by a diverse team for a diverse audience, and it's really important to us that players are able to be creative and express themselves through our games. We want to make sure players can create characters they can identify with or relate to through powerful tools that give them influence over a Sim's gender, age, ethnicity, body type and more," Maxis announced.

The update has garnered much support from the online community so far, with a number of the game's fans thanking the developer for taking a significant step towards promoting acceptance for the emerging LGBTQ community.

"As a transgendered male (female to male), I am extremely happy about this news. Thank you Sims team, you have my love," one of the commenters stated.

Indeed, with the update, The Sims 4 has become a game which has addressed a very prominent social issue in a manner that is both practical and innovative at the same time. 

Tags: the sims EA sims 4 the sims 4 the sims 4 update