The EA Sims 4 Russian wedding pack controversy — explained
American video games company Electronic Arts (EA) is certainly no stranger to controversy — from crunch culture and general poor treatment of employees, to the use of loot boxes ingame as a pay-to-win system, to the closure of Visceral Games, the company often finds itself in hot water with disgruntled gamers and critics. Its most recent scandal, however, is a little different than the usual issues of staff mistreatment and the monetisation of basic game mechanics.
In February 2022, EA announced a new game pack (think of it as a medium sized DLC — adds new items, a new world, and a few new game mechanics) for their immensely popular life simulation game The Sims 4. The pack was titled My Wedding Stories and, as the title suggested, was all about expanding on the pre-existing game mechanic of weddings. The pack itself, which dropped on 14th February, was nothing special — rather disappointing if anything, with broken and clearly rushed features that yet again indicate a culture of staff mistreatment and overworking at EA. It was the marketing and initial trailer for the pack, however, that started the storm of attention and controversy — interestingly enough, it depicted a wedding ceremony between two female Sims.
Fan reaction to the couple was positive — many LGBTQ Simmers have been pushing for years for more diverse storylines in The Sims 4. Whilst same-sex relationships have always been a built-in option in The Sims franchise, EA have been somewhat shy about adding LGBTQ townies and NPCs to the The Sims 4, a game which is now 8 years old. Fans were glad to see them finally respond to these requests for inclusivity. This praise swiftly evaporated, however, when EA made another big announcement — they would not be releasing the game pack in Russia in order to comply with the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws.
Since 2013, it has been illegal in Russia to ‘promote homosexuality’ to minors. Any content that depicts homosexuality in a positive light is automatically rated 18+; hence The Sims 4’s comically disproportionate age rating in Russia. Russian Simmers were understandably angry over this news — considering EA had released every other piece of Sims 4 content in Russia without issue (other than the forced 18+ rating), their refusal to release a pack that explicitly supported same-sex relationships felt like a massive betrayal. A Change.org petition asking EA to release the pack in Russia was created, and gained over 10,000 signatures. Russian Sims fans also created the hashtag #weddingsforrussia. The upset was reasonable; the right thing to do here would have been to show solidarity with the Russian LGBTQ community, to whom a game like The Sims must serve as a form of escapism — it offers a world in which you can be yourself and love who you love.
Ultimately, this saga will simply become remembered as another entry in EA’s sordid history. I am inclined to believe the company deserves the terrible reputation it has amongst gamers — after all, not only did they bend to the whims of homophobic Russian lawmakers, they also shut down hopes for another entry in one of the greatest horror game franchises of all time with the closure of Visceral Games; Dead Space. But that’s a different story.
