In 1999 Patrick Barrett joined Maxis and coded The Sims to allow same-sex relationships despite initial studio reluctance and fears of backlash. A demo at E3 1999 featured a wedding scene in which two female Sims kissed, making queer content impossible to quietly remove. The Sims became a bestselling franchise and provided players, especially queer players, a sandbox to explore identity, relationships, and nonbinary family structures. Electronic Arts, owner of The Sims and many major franchises, was acquired for $55 billion by investors including the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners, linked to Jared Kushner.
"In 1999, a programmer named Patrick Barrett joined the video game studio Maxis to help develop the video game that would become The Sims. Working from an out-of-date design handbook, he coded the game to allow for same-sex relationships-even though the studio initially decided not to include queer relationships for fear of backlash. The game was demoed to press with a wedding scene at E3 1999, and during the demo two female Sims kissed."
"On Monday, video game publisher Electronic Arts-which owns The Sims -was acquired for $55 billion by a group made up of a number of different investment firms, the two biggest being the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners, an investment firm whose CEO is Jared Kushner, son-in-law to Donald Trump. EA publishes a number of popular video game series you've probably heard of: Apex Legends, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA), Plants vs. Zombies, and, of course, The Sims."
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