Analyzing the Representation of Southeast Asian Cultural Heritage in the Life-Simulation Game The Sims 4

Cultural heritage is comprised of both intangible elements such as customs, beliefs, and traditions, and tangible elements like monuments and archaeological sites. Preserving cultural heritage is crucial for passing knowledge and values to future generations, yet it faces risks of being forgotten or damaged. Modern technologies, notably video games, have emerged as essential aids in cultural preservation. Video games offer rich historical backgrounds and intriguing depictions of historical events and personalities. Despite the fact that there are various publications on the depiction of cultural heritage in video games, there has been limited study on Asian cultural heritage representation, particularly that of Southeast Asia. Understanding the significance of having diverse representations in helping promote knowledge about other cultures and identity-building, this thesis examines how Southeast Asian cultural heritage is portrayed in the life-simulation game The Sims 4, with a focus on the recently released Southeast Asian-inspired expansion pack, The Sims 4 For Rent. In order to address this research question, this paper built a theoretical framework that was inspired by previous academic work, the game characteristics of The Sims 4 and Southeast Asian culture. The data for this study was gathered through analytical play, and then analyzed using a qualitative textual approach. The research findings are organized into six categories: people, environment and folklore, religion, architecture and design, cuisine and food traditions and society and daily life. The results of this study show that The Sims 4 developers have mainly used Thailand and Vietnam as inspiration when creating the world of Tomarang. Malaysia and Vietnam were also briefly mentioned but they did not play a huge role in the creation of the world. Having used four main Southeast Asian countries for the creation of Tomarang, the game developers depict the region as one nation with similar culture, which is completely untrue. Similar results were found by Šisler’s (2008) analysis on the representation of the Middle East in video games. Overall, The Sims 4 developers have accurately represented Southeast Asian cultural heritage apart from the traditional hair accessories and objects like the lotus lanterns in the ocean and the lotus monument in the main square of Tomarang. This study is attributed to the research conducted on cultural heritage in video games as it offers a theoretical framework on examining cultural heritage elements in particularly life simulation video games like The Sims 4. Additionally, the study complements the academic work, done on Asian, specifically Southeast Asian cultural heritage representation in media and video games by stating that The Sims 4 creators have used the Otherness framework for its representation of Southeast Asian region as it has portrayed both positive and negative stereotypes about it.