Twitch streamer’s petition challenges Electronic Arts to add inclusive pronouns to The Sims 4

A petition started by trans non-binary Twitch streamer Momo Misfortune is asking video game publisher Electronic Arts to add inclusive pronouns to its best-selling life simulation game The Sims 4.

Through Change.org, the petition has garnered nearly 13,000 signatures of its 15,000 goal since its launch one month ago, but the push for inclusion dates back even further for Momo Misfortune. The Twitch personality has spent the last 51 days tweeting directly at Electronic Arts requesting that the publisher change the game's pronoun options “to match the random gender neutral language being used throughout the game dialogue.”

A key part of continued development on The Sims 4 since its 2014 launch has focused on making the game more inclusive, though much of that change initiated from the game's robust modding community. Momo Misfortune addresses those positive changes in the petition, but believes that more should be done to make the popular title more accessible to LGBTQ players.

“The Sims 4 has come a long way for members of the LGBTQIA2+ community by letting us customize gender options for our sims. However we are still missing representation for our Transgender and Non-Binary sims,” they said. “The game will use gendered language based on what body type you have chosen for your sim (masc or femme). Recent packs have been adding more gender-neutral language or choosing to call a sim by their name instead of he/she, but the gendered language still lingers.”

“If we could have the option to choose pronouns for our sim or for the team to switch older game texts to be gender-neutral like current pack dialogues it would be impactful for those of us who are still unable to truly feel represented in the game by having our sims selves misgendered,” they added.

Electronic Arts is yet to respond to Momo Misfortune's petition or social media posts, but they hope that the visible support for adding inclusive pronouns will impact development choices for current and future titles in the franchise. “Even if this doesn't get added into The Sims 4, I hope by creating this petition it will show EA and The Sims team how something like this would be beneficial to adding into The Sims 5,” they said.