The new Sims 4 update (1.93.146.1020 on PC) from November 22 does one single thing: tackle profanity. Following a wave of “wholly unacceptable content” being uploaded onto the life game‘s gallery tool, Maxis has brought down the hammer hard on those who are hoping to cause havoc.
Given that The Sims still attracts a a lot of kids, this update makes complete sense. The patch notes are pretty short and sweet, but remain rather condemning.
“We are aware of and have seen some select instances of wholly unacceptable content that has been uploaded to The Sims 4 Gallery. Our team has reviewed, and made critical updates to, the profanity filter to help prevent this from happening again in the future,” EA writes.
“We are grateful for the community’s vigilance in helping us identify these inappropriate uploads so we can maintain a safe, creative environment for our players. We will continue to do our part by quickly taking down objectionable content that surfaces, identifying and removing repeat offenders and regularly reviewing the profanity filter in case any updates need to be made.”
There are no examples of the removed content but, given that the Gallery is used to show off player creations like new building lots, there’s a whole plethora of suspicious content that could end up in the Gallery.
Of course, this is hardly a first in the gaming industry – pretty much every game known to man has had issues with profanity and unsettling content. This, unfortunately, rings especially true of children’s games – especially online multiplayer games – which have become breeding grounds for predators, replacing the likes of Facebook and, back in my day, MSN.
In a somewhat controversial move, Roblox reduced chat filtering for users aged thirteen or above in an attempt to reorient itself as a game that caters to adults as well as children. The Sims doing the opposite is quite the statement, and in many ways feels like it’ll better safeguard younger players. Of course, we echo EA by urging fans to keep reporting any unsavoury content.
Now that you can download the Sims 4 for free, you can dive in and create your own virtual ecosystem with ease. To enhance that experience, check our our rundown of the best Sims 4 mods, as well as all of the best Sims 4 CC packs and creators to source content more specific to your needs.