Why You Shouldn't Mistake Sensitivity For Censorship, Sims 4: Horse Ranch Consultant Explains
06.09.2023 - 20:37
/ gamespot.com
/ Jess Howard
«It's not censorship. It's not stepping on someone's creativity. My goal is to help someone tell a better story,» Stacey Parshall Jensen told GameSpot.
By Jess Howard on
Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, The Sims franchise has consistently been one of the most progressive in games. The first entry in the series, The Sims, was among the first video games to ever present same-sex relationships--particularly in a way in which players would play an active role within them. In recent years, The Sims 4 has repeatedly made headlines for its free updates which have included robust gender customization, a greater variety of skin tones, and most recently, the ability to give your sims fully customizable pronouns. However, just as important as large-scale, progressive updates, is a company's dedication to ensuring authenticity in every aspect of the game.
In The Sims 4's latest expansion, Horse Ranch, Native American and Indigenous cultures served as the inspiration for many of the game's new recipes, clothing styles, and housing options. But rather than simply grasp at the patterns, ingredients, and history of these diverse communities, Maxis sought to do its due diligence, and reached out to Indigenous screenwriter, novelist, and sensitivity reader Stacey Parshall Jensen. GameSpot recently had the chance to speak with Jensen about her work on the expansion, her voyage into the games industry, and some of the misconceptions about sensitivity work.
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Now Playing: The Sims 4 Horse Ranch: Official Gameplay Trailer
GameSpot: I would love to hear a bit about how you met The Sims 4 team. What was that experience like? What was the process of talking to them and working on the expansion?
Jensen: First of all, I just want to say it was a really wonderful experience. I had the most fun, really. They're an amazing group of people. But how it worked is I was under contract as a sensitivity reader for Electronic Arts for a bit and had been doing [work on] some other games as needed. Then Brian [Schubert, lead animator at Electronic Arts] came to me and was like, «Okay, they'd like to bring you on for this specific project, this is what it looks like, and you would be needed to review any of the elements that are Indigenous themed.»
And they were starting from the point of development--still figuring out the story, basically who are the characters, where are they going to live, and what does that look like. It was really exciting because in addition to the sensitivity reading and the cultural consulting work that I do,