Supermodel Winnie Harlow partners up with The Sims 4 on vitiligo game update that allows players to create characters with skin condition - after dividing fans with trans-inclusionary features

Supermodel Winnie Harlow has partnered up with The Sims 4 on a game update that allows players to create characters with vitiligo.

Electronic Arts, which was founded in California, announced the update to their base game earlier this year.

This means every player of The Sims 4 will be able to create Sims with the skin condition, which Winnie Harlow was diagnosed with aged four.

Announcing the update, EA revealed that they have created the Canadian supermodel, 29,  in the game and shared a video of the character in her LA-inspired home.

In the promotional video posted on their Instagram, Winnie said: 'My favourite part of creating my Sim is the new vitiligo update.

Supermodel Winnie Harlow was diagnosed with vitiligo when she was four years old and revealed she grew up playing The Sims

EA revealed that they have created the Canadian supermodel, 29, in the game and shared a video of the character in her LA-inspired home

'It would have been so major to see a Sim that looks like me as a little girl.

'[The update] gives true representation to what my skin looks like [in real life].' 

Speaking to Glamour magazine, the Canadian model said of the update: 'I really worked for the little Winnie who'd never seen herself represented. 

'And to have The Sims, a game that I used to play as a little girl, want me to be a part of this and making such a big change to allow everybody to feel represented was a real big honour.'

However, the update received mixed responses from The Sims' 2.1m Instagram followers - with some accusing EA of overlooking pre-existing glitches in the game.  

One wrote: 'Y'all are so focused in adding diversity and inclusion s*** while the game is crumbling with bugs that never get fixes.'

Another added: 'Okay there is gonna be more inclusion during your games full of glitches and different bugs that really need to be fixed... but okay, enjoy.' 

That said, other gamers felt EA could have done more to be more inclusive. 

Last February, The Sims sparked debate online when they rolled out a base game update that allowed players to create characters with chest surgery scars

'Please get more representation,' one critic said. 'Like ASL, prosthetics or wheelchairs. Make the game as diverse as the players!!'

A second chimed in with: 'Is it really just that?? While yes, it is important to have more inclusive stuff in the game, when they talked about it they made it sound like it was something bigger.

'Guess I'm just a bit disappointed that it's just this.'

Meanwhile, one fan replied: 'As a vitiligo girl, that makes me so happy.' 

In February 2023, The Sims sparked debate online after rolling out an update for 'top surgery' scars that come from breast removal and chest binders to be added to characters.

The announcement drew fierce backlash online, with many expressing disappointment and shock that a game marketed to children would allow the promotion of transgender surgeries. 

A popular video game series which has an age rating of 12 has been slammed by critics after a recent update allowed for 'top surgery' scars that come from breast removal and chest binders to be added to characters

The Sims 4 developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts (EA) is a game that describes itself as the 'ultimate life simulation' and announced the update among several bug fixes on Tuesday

Libs of TikTok, a far-right Twitter account that often posts left-wing content with opposing commentary, reposted the updates with the caption 'They're teaching young healthy girls that it's ok to chop off their breasts.'

They wrote with a snapshot of examples: 'The Sims game announced a new update which has the option to make a teen character non-binary or transgender by giving them double mastectomy scars and chest binders.

'The Sims is advertised for ages 12+ They're teaching young healthy girls that it's ok to chop off their breasts.'

Political commentator Ian Miles Cheong tweeted moments later: 'God this sucks.'

'Atrocious,' wrote America First Legal President Stephen Miller.

A Twitter user who identifies as a 'Transexual Intermediate man with female biology' couldn't understand the changes.

'Why? This is actually making a joke of those of us who have dysphoria and do transition,' the tweet read.

'This is not 'inclusive' kids play these games, why the hell are you encouraging this? The only kids who need to know about people like me are my relatives!'

Meanwhile another user wrote: 'Well... there goes my positivity of The Sims series, right out the door.

'Just ridiculous. I'm okay with people being who they want to be - however not when it comes to a video game that loads of kids play. This is just too much.'

The announcement drew fierce backlash online, with many expressing disappointment and shock that a game marketed to children would allow the promotion of transgender surgeries

The changes also prompted some gamers to delete or uninstall the game and boycott the series.

'Just deleted the app and telling all my family and friends to do the same. Bye,' said one user.

Another said: 'I am uninstalling @TheSims and I will never play it or any of their products ever again. And I recommend you do the same. This is pure evil.'

The number of gender reassignment surgeries being carried out on American children has increased in the last decade, a study suggests.

Researchers looked at the number of mastectomies, sometimes called 'top surgery,' performed on girls under 18 at a major health system in California since 2013.

The operation involves surgically removing breast tissue and flattening the chest of biological girls who are trans, so they can feel aligned with their gender identity.