Video game accessibility is one of the most important aspects of inclusive game design. Over the weekend, the second annual Video Game Accessibility Awards took place online. These awards focus specifically on those games that have made real positive steps in their inclusiveness and are making improvements to their accessibility settings.
Now in its second year, the Video Game Accessibility Awards were streamed live on Twitch and Youtube and were created by AbleGamers senior director Stephen Spohn and Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearce. Together, they have created an awards ceremony that’s awarding categories highlight the crucial options for accessibility in games. These were developed against criteria set by AbleGamers. A whole host of famous names joined the Awards stream, including JackScepticEye, DrLupo and Ryan Reynolds, to name a few.
So which games and studios came away with the top prizes? Of all the nominated publishers, Xbox Game Studios were the most awarded, winning three awards out of their five nominations. The winners were as follows.
- Life Is Strange: True Colors – for allowing players to skip sections they’re unable to engage with
- Halo Infinite – this game won two awards, the first for Clear Text (enhanced and improved legibility of in-game text) and the second for Training Grounds, which provide the player with an area in which they can imporve their skills outside of the main gameplay.
- Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker – for allowing controller remapping
- It Takes Two – for collaborative gameplay (allowing progress in-game to be made with the assistance of another player)
- Forza Horizon 5 – for AI assistance
- Before Your Eyes – for cutting down on the number of inputs needed
- Far Cry 6 – for customisable precision
- Guardians Of The Galaxy – for providing a second method of interface to help players progress
If you missed the stream over the weekend, you can watch the Video Game Accessibility Awards in full right here.
