The Sims 4 free update adds vitiligo skin details in continued effort for more inclusive character creation

The Sims 4 - A Sim with vitiligo inspired by Winnie Harlow wears a romper and smiles inside a modern, white decor room — (Image credit: Maxis, Electronic Arts)

As part of its continuing efforts to diversify The Sims 4 character creation, Maxis has added new skin details to Create-A-Sim. These patches of depigmented skin are caused by vitiligo, an autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 1% of the US population and 100 million people worldwide. Maxis says that Sims of all ages can have vitiligo with varying amounts of coverage and symmetry on their face, torso, and limbs as part of a free base game update that launched today.

To celebrate the addition, Maxis has partnered with Canadian fashion model and activist Winnie Harlow, who has vitiligo and has spoken publicly about the condition during her career. Harlow was also an avid Sims player as a kid, it turns out. "It’s magical to see The Sims 4 team introduce this new Vitiligo feature," Harlow says. "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."

The Sims 4 - four Sims with vitiligo side by side with different skin colors — (Image credit: Maxis, Electronic Arts)

Maxis says Harlow will also be sharing some of her own interior design inspirations, a Winnie-inspired Sim to download, and a build based on her home in Hollywood.

As Harlow says, it's another nice step toward more players being able to create realistic versions of themselves in The Sims. Players have been filling this desire themselves by creating vitiligo skin details as Sims 4 custom content for a long time, so this is definitely a feature folks have been looking for.

As detailed in The Sims blog post, the update brings 61 different vitiligo variants across all Sim ages. You can find them in the "skin details" section of the character creator above the existing birthmark details, EA says.

This is the next part of the "sensationally you" season of content that Maxis teased in January. Players had been speculating that the "beautiful [Sims Delivery Express] drop" pictured with a W pendant necklace and a silhouette in a dress would be a redesign of the Get Famous expansion character Judith Ward, but it turns out those clues actually point to Winnie Harlow's involvement and fashion career.

After today's base game update, we'll yet be looking forward to a "sparkling" stuff pack, "celebratory" build mode kit, and a "co-created style kit" in the next few months.

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Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She joined the PCG staff in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.