There's no question that The Sims 4 is a video game all about being inclusive. In February, it received the My Wedding Stories feature, then by May, customizable pronouns were introduced. For the next base game update, the plan is to add the Sexual Orientation feature.
All About Attraction
With Sexual Orientation, players can assign a series of parameters for their Sim; the first is all about attraction. It's pretty much a simple and affirmative statement of who the Sim is attracted to. If a Sim attempts a romantic interaction with the player's Sim and the gender doesn’t match the attraction settings, they're going to be rejected. For now though, the initial options are limited to being gender binary.
A Little Romance
The second setting control is whether the Sim is going to explore romantically. This determines if the Sexual Orientation of that Sim can shift through gameplay.
When set to "No," that Sim won't be exploring outside its current sexual orientation. It means the Sim has found out who they are and knows who they're attracted to. When set to "Yes," that Sim is still figuring things out. As the Sim experiences romantic interactions, it's possible that they'll end up in a place that's different from where they started.
Ready for WooHoo?
The third setting determines who the player's Sim can WooHoo with. For those who want to experience what it means to be an Asexual Sim, they can leave all options unchecked. There's even a way to learn the story of an Aromantic Sum by choosing WooHoo interests but leaving romantic attraction boxes unchecked.
In a post, Design Lead on The Sims 4 High School Years Expansion Pack SimGuruJessica revealed that the reason why they are releasing this feature is because they hold "creativity, discovery, inclusivity, and play as core values." In addition, she added that the entire team strives every day to celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion for the people and community.
She went on to say that while they can't get into more details about what's being planned for the future, she assured everyone that they're always committed to improving the representation of the LGBTQIA+ community.
What about you? What do you think of this upcoming new feature?
The Sims 4 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
