"We Aim To Be Inclusive"

"m3ukkie;c-17746062" wrote:

"SimzSizzle;c-17745591" wrote:
I'm with a few other people in the way I think a little more research could've been done before including the religious part, and all of this could've been avoided because its part of the history of the two countries, so close together.

I agree. Honestly, I still think EA only did brief research to make the pack look good superficially. I think they didn't work with a native Japanese enough for the preparation, because if you were a Japanese, you could have sensed the risk of anti-Japanese sentiment. There are actually plenty of precedents in the game industry, too.)

They did say they consulted groups about the expansion before representing Japanese culture:

“It’s an authentic look at Japanese culture,” Nardone explains of the Expansion. “We consulted with some of our groups internally about that just to make sure we’re representing not only the setting, but also the Sims themselves, in a respectful and authentic way.”

Authenticity and representation are two of the key pillars The Sims 4 is now focused on, with new updates to skin tones and hair due to release before the end of the year.

“Something that’s important to us is being able to bring more of the lived experiences of our players into the game, giving them an opportunity to have something that they can connect with, have moments that are relevant for them, and be able to recreate more of not only their own lives, but the lives of people like them too,” Nardone says of the game’s renewed focus on representation. 

https://www.gamebyte.com/the-sims-4-snowy-escape-self-care-culture-covid-19-an-interview-with-simgurugraham/

Interesting they said they want people to be able to recreate more of their own lives and people like them and still end up with their stance on the controversy.