Achieving Inclusive Game Design
Join gaming leaders, alongside GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming, for their 2nd Annual GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit | GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2 this upcoming January 25-27, 2022. Learn more about the event.
It’s readily apparent that ‘inclusive game design’ is a broad goal for the industry. Ask anybody making games, and it’s possible to receive wildly different answers about how to do that. The International Game Developers Association’s Renee Gittins did just that in a roundtable discussion on reaching players through inclusive game design.
The first thing that needs doing in a discussion like this is to define the terms. Inclusivity for one person might be having a game that features anything beyond the standard male Caucasian hero archetype. Or it could be setting a game in a location that is authentic to the culture and people that live there. It could even be as simple as including simplified controls, or colorblind modes to allow players with disabilities to enjoy themselves.
WB Games Montreal’s Osama Dorias takes a wide view on the subject of what inclusive game design means.
“To me it’s a game that made an effort to be inclusive,” said Dorias. “It’s a game that stood out and included something that shows they were trying to reach a broader audience.”
The 2nd Annual GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming Summit and GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2
January 25 – 27, 2022
Microsoft’s Tara Voelker has a more focused approach. Voelker is the Xbox Game Studios Accessibility lead, as well as the co-director of the Game Accessibility Conference.
“Being inclusive is literally being able to play the game,” Voelker said. “If you’re not including them then they can’t play it. It’s pretty cut and dry.”
Netflix’s Laura Teclemariam has a
Read more on venturebeat.com
