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EA accused of turning a deaf ear to The Sims streamer’s harassment allegations

EA accused of turning a deaf ear to The Sims streamer’s harassment allegations

EA has been accused of failing to take action on sexual harassment allegations against one of its Game Changers.

An investigative report on Kotaku reveals accounts by a number of young Sims fans that claim to have been sexually harassed through online channels by a prominent The Sims streamer who goes by the handle Dylan Simz.

Simz is one of EA's Game Changers - community ambassadors and influencers who act as a bridge between players and developers. 

Two teenage individuals - who are given false names in the report.- alleged to the outlet that they had been experiencing sexual advances and pushy messages from Simz for months. Despite contacting two members of the Sims team, the pair claimed little progress was made. Months later, Simz was said to still be targeting teens.

Eventually they gave their stories to Tabitha, another teen who is said to have been approached by Simz. With a sizeable audience of her own, Tabitha posted a video condemning EA for its handling of the situation.

“This is alarming for so many reasons, but what was more alarming is the fact that that one of the victims contacted two of the SimGurus to tell them what was going on and report this man because he is an EA Game Changer,” said Tabitha. “And what did they do? Nothing.

“I don’t know if I want to keep being a Simmer at this point. I’m humiliated to even be associated with this brand. They should be embarrassed that they let this man be a representative of who they are as a company.”

Following this statement, Simz stepped down as a Game Changer and has since deleted many of his social media accounts.


Staff Writer

Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.