Levelling the Playing Field: The Rise of Accessible Gaming
How the Gaming Industry is Transforming for Players with Disabilities
“Everyone deserves to play.” This powerful sentiment is driving a revolution in the gaming world towards greater accessibility.
As the gaming industry expands, the future of accessible gaming seems bright, as efforts towards inclusive experiences are making headway. However, there is still a long way to go.
Mobile Premier League (MPL), a leading gaming platform, shares the dynamics of accessible gaming, including its importance, recent advancements, and business potential.
What is Gaming Accessibility?
Gaming accessibility refers to designing and developing games that people with disabilities or impairments can enjoy. It encompasses many features and considerations for players with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments, like customizable controls and audio descriptions.
According to one survey, 66% of gamers with an impairment or condition say they face barriers or issues related to gaming. To address this, many developers are working on making games more inclusive to tap into a vast and underserved market.
Recent Advancements in Accessibility
In recent years, accessibility features like adjustable difficulty levels, subtitles, and audio descriptions have become more common. Some examples of accessibility features are:
- For visual Impairments: Colorblind modes, high contrast settings, customizable HUDs, and larger text options.
- For auditory Impairments: Closed captions, subtitles, audio descriptions, and sound effects customization.
- For motor Impairments: Customizable controls, button remapping, slow-motion options, and auto-aim features.
- For cognitive Impairments: Difficulty level adjustments, simplified menus, and clear tutorials.
The Role of AI In Advancing Accessible Gaming
Imagine a game that learns about your abilities and adjusts itself to suit your needs. AI can make this possible.
AI can analyse how players work through the game interface and tweak game settings in real time. For instance, it can provide real-time subtitles and translations for hearing-impaired players and also bring voice recognition into play, allowing hands-free controls.
Games with Accessibility Features
Some of the games with the best and most comprehensive accessibility features are:
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Lauded for its accessibility features upon release, Valhalla includes extensive subtitle options, visual customization, and a variety of control adjustments. It also offers narrated menus and full-mission briefings to help players with visual impairments.
World of Warcraft: Provides robust support for add-ons that enhance accessibility for its 145 million total players, such as customizable UI elements and keybindings, and includes colorblind mode and speech-to-text functionalities.
Grounded: Known for its customizable text size and colour, adjustable difficulty settings, and an innovative “Arachnophobia Safe Mode” which alters the appearance of spiders to be less threatening.
Moss: Excels with its clear visual cues, VR-specific accessibility options like seated gameplay, and intuitive controls designed for players of all abilities.
Gears 5: Features include full controller remapping, extensive subtitle options, a single-stick movement option, and narrated menus.
Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart: Has an extensive suite of options such as high contrast modes, customizable subtitles, and control mapping, alongside settings to simplify gameplay mechanics for a wider audience.
The Last Of Us 2: Widely praised for its comprehensive accessibility options, including extensive visual, auditory, and motor function support, fully customizable controls, and detailed in-game accessibility resources.
Business Value of Accessible Gaming Market
MPL expert emphasises the importance of inclusivity, stating, “Accessibility is not just a moral obligation; these days, it’s a business imperative.”
50% of disabled gamers say that information on a game’s accessibility has affected their decision to buy it. In addition, almost 30% of gamers identify as having some form of disability. Imagine the impact on sales numbers!
The Future of Accessible Gaming
As technology continues to evolve, we can expect even more groundbreaking innovations. Some examples of potential future advancements are:
Eye-tracking technology: Enabling gameplay for players with limited motor skills.
Brain-computer interfaces: Offering alternative input methods for those with severe motor impairments.
Advanced AI for real-time customization: Adapting gameplay based on individual player needs.
MPL states, “There should be a focus on user feedback and collaboration between developers and accessibility experts. By prioritising accessibility, the gaming industry can fulfil a social responsibility and drive innovation and growth.”
