Accessibility in Games: Can I Play Too?

• Accessibility vs difficulty

  • What are my definitions, how can they be different

  • Subtitles, different controllers, colour blind options

  • Where do they overlap?

• What is developer vision?

  • How often do we actually have strong feelings about how our games should be played?

  • The player's experience is manipulated but not manufactured

• Toxic masculinity & gatekeeping

  • Why "skill" and "overcoming challenge" are not relevant to every game

• The right to your own perspective

  • Why "skill" and "overcoming challenge" are totally fine

  • You cannot invalidate someone else's reasons for subjectively enjoying something, no matter how hard you try

  • It's all in the mindset - Alpha Wolf

• Separate what we enjoy from what people are "allowed" to do

• If I need my credentials checked

  • I am not a highly skilled player

  • I have beaten dark souls 1, 2, 3 and bloodborne

  • Halfway through sekiro

  • I am a game developer

• Should Sekiro be easier? If From Software decided it should be

• Would difficulty settings undermine the point of the game? For me, not at all but this is down to the developer

  • They might make more money and be more popular if they do

  • You cannot force a creator's hand

• Should games attempt to cater for those with disabilities? In my opinion, yes, where financially viable & where the it does not create massive design challenges

• Should all games be completable by all players? No, I don't think this is a worthwhile goal

• Is it a shame that some people can't experience games because of this? Yes

• If we aim for all games to be played by everyone then we will lose the smaller, niche games along the way. I do think that games targeting the mainstream audience should cater for as many types of player as possible but ultimately that's up to them. If the market continues to reward From Software for designing games for a niche, challenge seeking audience then they will continue to do so.