It’s been well noted that AAA publishers have been aiming to make their games more accessible in this generation than in generations gone. Sony’s recent remake of The Last of Us, which originally debuted on the PlayStation 3 in 2013 received numerous accessibility options and updates for The Last of Us Part 1 on PlayStation 5. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has today announced in a PlayStation Blog that they’ll be adding accessibility tags to PlayStation Store games on the PlayStation 5 this week.
Speaking in the blog post, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s senior VP of platform experience, Hideaki Nishino, noted that these new accessibility tags will allow developers “to provide detailed insight on accessibility features supported in their games.” He continued: “These can range from visual and audio accessibility settings to DualSense controller options, difficulty settings, and online communication features like chat transcription.”
According to Nishino there are set to be over 50 accessibility tags present throughout six different categories which are listed in the blog post as the following:
- Visual accessibility features, such as clear text, large text, color alternatives, audio cues, and directional audio indicators.
- Audio features, such as volume controls, mono audio, screen reader, and visual cue alternatives.
- Subtitle and caption options, including subtitle size, clear captions, and large captions.
- Control options, including button remapping, thumbstick sensitivity, and the ability to play without button holds, rapid button presses, or motion control.
- Gameplay options, such as difficulty settings, skippable puzzles, simplified quick-time events, and game speed.
- Online communication options, such as text or voice chat transcription and ping communication.
While these tags are a fantastic improvement and addition to the PlayStation store they will only be available on the PlayStation 5 covering PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games. Some of the games that are set to include the feature at launch during this week are Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, God of War, God of War Ragnarök, Gran Turismo 7, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, and Returnal.
In the blog post, Nishino said: “We are just starting to roll out this feature and are collaborating with a wide range of developers to implement this feature in their game hubs on PS5 in the coming weeks and months.” This hopefully means we’ll see more developers utilize the new feature for current and upcoming titles making their way to PlayStation 5. This move to add accessibility tags comes after Sony unveiled Project Leonardo, a brand-new customizable controller aimed at audiences with disabilities.
