EA Promises To "Do Better," Says Behind The Sims Summit "Did Not Fairly Represent" Black Players

Electronic Arts publicly promised players of the wildly popular management series The Sims that going forward, the company will “do better" when it comes to the representation of its player base, fans of the franchise having noticed that only a single "Black simmer” was featured in the recently held Behind the Sims Summit.

The news was first noted by Eurogamer after the official Twitter account for The Sims replied to a prominent content creator within the community, Ebonix. The streamer had previously raised the issue earlier this week in the wake of the event, but the publisher was apparently unaware of the swelling wave of discontent about the matter.

“Not a single Black simmer in that reel? I’m fuming,” Ebonix remarked shortly after the Behind the Sims Summit in a brief but poignant thread on Twitter. “Apologies, shout out to Springsims who was featured, but I’m so sorry. I’m actually so livid,” the streamer later added. EA held its first ever Behind the Sims Summit primarily to give a "super early" look at the next entry in this long running franchise, Project Rene.

"You are right in your frustrations and we let you down," EA replied to Ebonix on the social media platform. "We owe it to you and each of our Black creators and players to make sure you are seen and celebrated for all that you bring to The Sims and The Sims community."

The developer went on to post what largely amounts to an apology. "Our creator segments during the Behind The Sims Summit did not fairly represent our vast community of players," EA remarked in a tweet quoting the earlier comments by Ebonix. "Black Simmers deserve to feel seen in all that we do at The Sims, so we're holding ourselves accountable to this mistake and will do better moving forward."

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