EA and Maxis have announced a new collaboration with American singer and actress Vanessa Hudgens. Hudgens appears alongside British YouTuber Joe Sugg, German YouTuber and LGBTQ+ Advocate Melina Sophie, French Pop Singer Bilal Hassani, and Polish actor Adam Zdrójkowski in a new Play With Life video, which celebrates diversity in The Sims 4.
The Play With Life campaign has been running since The Sims rebranded itself last year, initially coming under fire from some simmers due to exclusively featuring those under 25. This new video shows a different direction for the campaign, featuring not only a wider age range, but also a lineup that celebrates different cultures.
While the video still fits the game's new brand, it's great to see that steps were taken to include even more people as the game celebrates its 20th anniversary.
The video opens with Bilal Hassani, an openly gay French-Moroccan singer-songwriter and YouTuber with a fabulous gender-fluid style often described as queer. At just 19, he is already a prominent LGBTQ+ icon and represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.
After Hassani sings in French, showcasing the skills you can acquire in-game, the video cuts to Vanessa Hudgens, who is famous for her role as Gabriella Montez in Disney's High School Musical franchise. At 31 years old, she represents older fans who grew up with the franchise. Her celebrity status adds not only a well-known name to the campaign, but also some much-needed age diversity.
Melina Sophie, a 24-year-old German YouTuber and prominent LGBTQ+ advocate, is next and is seen showcasing the game's ability to choose different types of relationships. She is followed by 28-year-old Joe Sugg, a British YouTuber who posts under the name ThatcherJoe, showing off the parties sims can attend.
Finally, we see Adam Zdrójkowski, a 19-year-old Polish actor, dancer, singer, and TV presenter who also appears speaking in his native language. This brings the total number of languages spoken in the short up to four.
The Sims franchise has always been big on diversity and it's great to see that the new campaign is expanding its age range as well as celebrating different languages and gender identities. As part of this new campaign, you can also download Vanessa Hudgens' sim from the Play With Life section of The Sims website.