Dark & Lovely, The Sims 4 Partner to Boost Diversity in Gaming Industry

Dark & Lovely, a leading hair care brand for Black women, has announced a collaboration with the popular life simulation video game, The Sims 4, to address the lack of diversity in the gaming industry. The partnership aims to create new tools for Black gamers to express themselves in virtual worlds and raise awareness about the importance of representation.

As part of the collaboration, Dark & Lovely released a social documentary, “Play in Color.” The documentary highlights the changemakers redefining the gaming industry’s rules and is now available on Dark & Lovely’s YouTube page and the “Play In Color” website.

In addition to the documentary, Dark & Lovely has partnered with gaming creator Danielle “Ebonix” Udogaranya to create new hair colors and styles for in-game characters in The Sims 4. These include six new hairstyle mods with 10-12 color variations each, inspired by Dark & Lovely’s newest Immersive Bolds collection. As part of a free update for all players, The Sims 4 also introduces 24 color combinations across two existing hairstyles.

This collaboration marks an effort to increase representation and better reflect the 73% of Black people who enjoy video games. It also serves as a stepping stone towards more accurate and meaningful representation in the gaming industry.

Dark & Lovely’s ongoing commitment to building educational and career equity is further demonstrated by the dedication of their 2024 Building Beautiful Futures scholarship to create career pathways for young, Black women pursuing careers in STEAM and graphic design.

While this partnership is a step in the right direction, it also highlights the need for continued efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry and beyond.