'The Sims 4' Update Accidentally Enabled Incest — And Gamers Are Outraged
From unsettling demon babies to accidental nudity, “The Sims” has had more than a few cringeworthy malfunctions among the simulation video game series’ long-running history.
However, the latest stomach-turning faux pas is sure to stir up quite the awkward family conversation.
“The Sims 4” players have recently reported that after the game’s free update on July 26, which added new features such as body hair and new wants and fears, some in-game characters are now on the hunt to date their own family members, Kotaku reported.
Players on Reddit and other platforms began frantically sharing horrifying screenshots across social media, calling out the inappropriate incestuous desires that are causing mother, brother and sister characters to lust after each other.
Why does my sim want to date his brother 😵💫
No no no no no absolutely not how do I get rid of this 😭😭 @TheSimspic.twitter.com/ah9i5cmjVg— Sil ♡ (@SiqnoftheTimes) July 27, 2022
Yall should also investigate why the wants aren’t identifying siblings
My sim should not want to date his brother 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/5KiysquuFZ— Sil ♡ (@SiqnoftheTimes) July 27, 2022
HELP???
after the recent update, sims are having inappropriate feelings.
1) Bartholomew and Beatrice are SIBLINGS before 'friends' !!!
2) Beatrice is supposedly HAPPILY MARRIED??? to Herman with full romance+friendship bars and positive sentiments???
@TheSimspic.twitter.com/z2VBLIYzAq— turtle (@simskico) July 29, 2022
Why is my heterosexual sim wanting to date his brother? pic.twitter.com/lBZ7gX4Qnn
— Chelsea (@ChelseaL8ly) July 28, 2022
The bizarre glitch can also reportedly make your characters rapidly auto-age into the next phase of their life after just a few minutes of playing.
“I opened up a household and played for about 10 minutes and when I got back to my household everyone is aged up. Kids are teens and Young adults are almost elders,” reported one player on the Sims Community website.
Hey Simmers! We are currently investigating instances involving Sims auto-aging up in saves using the Short or Long lifespan. We recommend temporarily playing in or creating new saves with the default/“normal” lifespan, as we work towards a solution.
— The Sims (@TheSims) July 27, 2022
Last week, a representative of the decades-old video game series published by Electronic Arts issued a statement about the unexpected bugs on the official Sims Twitter account.
“Hey Simmers! We are currently investigating instances involving Sims auto-aging up in saves using the Short or Long lifespan. We recommend temporarily playing in or creating new saves with the default/“normal” lifespan, as we work towards a solution,” the statement said.
A quality designer from “The Sims 4” live operations team who goes by SimGuruNick also followed up on Twitter about the unintentional side effects, writing, “I just wanted to acknowledge that the Want to date a family member is something we know about, we’ve reproduced ourselves, we’re working on it.”
“We’re looking to get it fixed ASAP, thanks for all the bug reports, we appreciate it,” he added.
One of the popular game’s latest updates also added the option for players to choose their pronouns, including they/them, she/her or he/him.
HuffPost has reached out to Electronic Arts for further comments.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.