Globally, there is an approximate number of 3.09 billion active video game players. That is more than 1/4th of the population. What was once considered to be a niche market has now become a part of a daily routine for a majority of people. By 2024, these numbers are expected to hit the 3.32 billion mark. And because of its growing widespread reach, it has become a need to make gaming more accessible for persons with disabilities.
AP News explains how Paul Lane (one of the gamers who have been working with Sony since 2018 to help design the Access Controller) has been using his mouth, cheek and chin to navigate through the gaming controls and guide his virtual car around the ‘Gran Turismo’ racetrack on the PlayStation 5, for the past 23 years (after he met with a car accident that left him unable to use his fingers). The imagery of Lane going through hardships as such to play a video game is reason enough to expedite the process of making the world of gaming more accessible and accommodating.
For individuals with disabilities, participating in video games has historically posed challenges due to the limitations of standard controllers used in gaming consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo. These conventional controllers can be tough or even impossible to navigate for those with limited mobility. Losing the ability to engage in gaming isn’t just a matter of compromising a favoured pastime; it can also intensify feelings of social isolation, a concern that disproportionately affects persons with disabilities compared to others.
In essence, Sony has taken a giant leap in the realm of gaming. It has taken a step forward towards making gaming more accessible for gamers with disabilities with its Access Controller; initially known as ‘Project Leonardo’. In January, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sony introduced the Access Controller for the PlayStation 5, with the official announcement marking Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May. This controller, akin to Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller, was described by Sony’s senior vice president of platform experience, Hideaki Nishino, as an innovative and highly adaptable accessibility controller kit. Its primary purpose is to enable players with disabilities to enjoy games with increased ease, comfort, and longer playing sessions. Sony highlighted that the development of the Access Controller involved collaboration with a range of accessibility experts. The Access Controller which is priced at $89.99 will start rolling out to the general public from 6 December 2023 onwards.
Sony making the gaming world accessible
As mentioned in Forbes, according to Alvin Daniel, senior technical programme manager of Sony, PlayStation adheres to the ethos that “play has no limits,” which goes beyond the imaginative aspects of game development and extends to the realm of disability inclusion.
PlayStation Studios is actively engaged in pioneering work to introduce innovative options for players with disabilities to give them a gaming experience that is on par with all the other gaming experiences. The PS5 system software incorporates several accessibility features, including a screen reader and large text. Sony has also recently released an update that introduced new accessibility features like the ability to use two DualSense controllers as a single unit, along with haptic feedback (use of touch to communicate with users) in the main user interface.
A frequently encountered difficulty with standard controllers for the majority of persons with disabilities is their inability to use them out of the box. The Access Controller addresses this issue, enabling players to express themselves within the game by improving the final link in the chain between the game console and controller input.
Sony embarked on the development of the Access Controller in 2018 and 2019 with a completely ‘blank slate’, aiming to create an adaptive and accessible controller to enhance the inclusivity of the PS5. The development process included extensive research into existing solutions, as well as examining various factors such as census data, medical data, and the prevalence of different conditions. The team paid close attention to the extraordinary lengths to which people with disabilities go to adapt to standard controllers. The valuable input from AbleGamers played an instrumental role in defining the challenges the Access Controller should address. Sony established three core principles for the Access Controller: it should be usable without requiring physical manipulation, it should feature physically swappable buttons, and it should be highly customizable with third-party switches or joysticks. The end result is a product designed for flexibility and not a cookie-cutter solution.
Why is accessible gaming important?
A take-home message that Sony left the world with its advancement is that when you make any device accessible, it should be widely accessible. This implies that the devices need to be manufactured in a way that accommodates players on a wide spectrum of different needs. While Sony does not encompass all disabilities out there, it has tried its best to create a space in which, if not all, at least many of the persons with disabilities feel like amazing players. Even with its caveats, Sony’s initiative will act as the starting point that sparks a broader conversation on accessible video games, hopefully one that ends in action.
Not accommodating gamers with disabilities not only excludes a significant portion of the potential player base for a game but can also harm the reputation of a gaming company. Inaccessibility may lead to a decline in the player community and provoke disapproval from both gamers with disabilities and their supporters within the gaming community.
(Sandunlekha Ekanayake)