A day after EA released a free update (opens in new tab) to The Sims 4, adding comprehensive character creation options such as hearing aids, glucose monitors, binders, and top surgery scars, the game is already embroiled in a culture war. The Sims 4 was condemned by right-wing pundits in the U.S., where an aggressive anti-trans agenda has been promoted by conservatives in recent years.

"The virus of the awakened mind has infected not only government agencies, but also educational and entertainment institutions," conservative commentator Dave Rubin claimed on Fox News. Rubin lamented that "The Sims 4" does not have the "educational value" of games he played in the 1990s, such as "SimCity," claiming that he learned a lot about urban planning from the latter game. Rubin concluded that this update to The Sims is "completely consistent with all of the awakening we've seen."

Former real estate agent Chaya Raichik weighed in on the issue from her popular "Libs of TikTok" Twitter account, taking particular issue with the visible top surgery scar as a customization option for The Sims; as NPR reported (new opens in tab), Libs of TikTok's obsession with gender reassignment surgery and the luridly fabricated accounts of such surgeries being performed on minors inspired threats of violence against children's hospitals across the country.

Nick Adams (Alpha Male) (open in new tab), whom Donald Trump once called his "favorite writer," also weighed in. 'Simms has had an awakening. You know what that means," Adams wrote (opens in new tab). Whether or not you know what that means, Adams continued (opens in new tab), he urges readers to "Put down Sims 4 and pick up your Bible!" He urges them to do the same.

Our hobby has been taken up as a regressive and largely unpopular political campaign cudgel, and if that sounds familiar to you, you've probably lived through the moral panic that video games experienced in the early 00s. This week's infantilizing and fear-mongering by the right echoes the backlash from Jack Thompson, Hillary Clinton, and others who have long used video games and their cultural status as tools of their respective political projects.

The backlash against obscene music that culminated in a 1990 Supreme Court case (open in new tab) and, just a few years after the end of World War II, Catholic organizations and other groups in several cities across the United States banned comic books (open in new tab) that they saw as leading to child delinquency Similar parallels can be seen in the moment when they banned, rounded up, and inspired burning.

Like the fabricated controversy surrounding the Xbox's new power-saving feature (open in new tab), in this case centered around free optional video game DLC, it is a malicious play for an angry news cycle. The Sims' consideration of LGBTQ+ audiences (opens in new tab) is nothing new, and actual game fans seem to be enjoying the new content packs, including trans ones, a lot. Anyway, I'll be playing "The Gay Sims" on my Wokebox One, and I'm sure I'll be able to find some good content for it.