The Sims 4 has added vitiligo in a free update

A new update for The Sims 4 has added options to give characters vitiligo, the autoimmune disorder which causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation. Rather than a handful of preset full-body patterns, The Sims 4's vitiligo impressively comes as loads of patterns for separate bodyparts, so you can create a wide range of effects. And no, you don't need to buy an expansion for it.

Winnie Harlow x The Sims 4

"The new assets will show up right before the Birthmarks that were delivered with the Growing Together Base Game update," EA explain in the announcement. "You can choose patches for your Sim's face, upper torso, lower torso, arms, and legs. Several Vitiligo patterns will have more than one variant - you can choose whether you want to start with a less prominent part of the pattern at first or start with the full pattern. All ages will have access to the same pieces, so your choices can stay the same as they age or you can change them over time."

EA also note, "We hope to address the ability of Vitiligo to affect hair color in the future, but at this time, vitiligo will only apply to skin."

The company have made an effort in recent years to represent more types of players and more types of people, adding features including a hundred new skin tones with a focus on darker tones and sexual orientation options including asexual and aromantic. That's nice whether you're making yourself in the game or simply wanting to see more of the world reflected. It's not all been good news. In 2022, EA apologised after a section of a Sims video presentation included only one Black Sims community figure during a section highlighting streamers, saying this "did not fairly represent our vast community of players".