A video that exploit’s EA’s ‘gay filter’ in The Sims 4 is prompting the publisher to release a fix.
WhyStuffIsGreat uploaded a YouTube video that gave players names or descriptions with words like “gay,” “lesbian,” and “homosexual.” The game denied any upload of the players because they used “forbidden” words.
The uploader questioned why the company would make these words forbidden to use in the game when descriptors such as “heterosexual” and “straight” were OK.
EA reacted quickly to the video and said that it was “a technical issue,” according to the updated part of the video description:
Update: “EA told Kotaku today that it’s aware of this problem and is fixing it.”
And:
“I reached out to EA after testing this out, and a representative from the company assured me that this is a technical issue they are currently working to resolve.”
EA’s Heart May Have Been in the Right Place
While there may have been a bug involved in programming, it’s not surprising to see that EA would put these blocks in. Whoever put those descriptors on a block list did so because they wanted to avoid players using these words in derogatory ways.
Perhaps there’s a way that they could have an advanced filter system that allows the words but blocks them when they are reflected in a negative way. While having a name like “Laura Lesbo” wouldn’t be common anyway, claiming that the player is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or straight should be allowed and uploaded to be shared all over the world.
