The Sims 4 Play With Life campaign added a Vanessa Hudgens Sim to the game

The Sims 4 developer EA Maxis is promoting diversity with the Play With Life campaign and revealed today that Vanessa Hudgens has joined other celebrities and influencers in the game, so now you can hang out with a celebrity — or at least her avatar — in everyone's favorite life simulator.

EA's Play With Life campaign for The Sims began in 2019 as a youthful rebrand that puts a focus on diversity and inclusion for The Sims franchise. In a new trailer released Monday morning, actress Vanessa Hudgens joins several other celebrities and influencers to lending their likenesses to the game. Hudgens is joined by includes YouTubers Joe Sugg and Melina Sophie, pop singer Bilal Hassani, and actor Adam Zdrójkowski.

"As part of EA’s ongoing Play With Life campaign, actress and singer Vanessa Hudgens has collaborated with The Sims to show fans how to unleash their creativity, joy and love of adventure in The Sims 4," an official release reads. "The singer and actress has never been afraid to take risks on the screen and off of it, and she carries that same sense of adventure into her game."

The news comes with a brief, fun commercial featuring these celebrities as they're transformed into Sims. It's a pretty fun reminder at how inclusive the franchise has become in its 20 years.

Players will also be able to download and use Sims based on everyone in this video, starting with Vanessa Hudgens. PC players can go to the site right now and download her character for use in-game. Even for those not as attached to the promotion, there are other new Sims to gain out of it. The ongoing campaign definitely makes it seem like EA is aiming for a much younger audience for the game these days.

This Play With Life campaign isn't new for EA, but they are putting renewed emphasis on it because its the series' 20th anniversary. February 4, 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of The Sims.

While the series has had its ups and downs —The Sims 4, in particular, had a rocky start — every game in the franchise has sold well, with The Sims 4 passing 20 million players in the past quarter according to EA's latest financial report.

The Inverse Analysis

Because the game has such a large platform and casual appeal, The Sims is probably one of the best games to infuse with these kinds of inclusive initiatives. It's also great to see real people being successfully represented and recreated within The Sims 4. It remains to be seen if any other celebrities or influencers will be hopping on board with The Sims 4 Play With Life campaign, but its a good way for the initiative to kick off 2020 and continue celebrating the game's 20th anniversary.

The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.