For players with disabilities, the last five years have been a mix of meaningful advances and frustrating setbacks. Since 2019 I’ve been reporting professionally on accessibility and disability perspectives in gaming, covering moments from a Mortal Kombat tournament designed for blind and low-vision competitors to an exclusive interview about the PlayStation Access Controller. I’ve seen how the industry can both uplift and fail the disabled community, and as Xbox and PlayStation celebrate their platforms, it feels like the right moment to take stock of accessibility’s highs and lows over the past half-decade.
Measuring how much accessibility has improved isn’t simple. We’ve seen clear wins — from PlayStation’s first official accessible controller in 2023 to a 2025 coalition of major companies including Nintendo, EA, Microsoft, and Sony working on an accessibility tagging system for games — which together signal greater inclusion. In 2020, Geoff Keighley introduced the Innovation in Accessibility Award at The Game Awards to honor games or devices that broaden who can participate. The first recipient, presented by former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, was Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II, a landmark in accessibility for blind and low-vision players thanks to its wide array of customizable options.
That recognition hasn’t been without controversy. The award was moved out of the main show and into the pre-show last year, and reports about the Future Class program being paused have left many accessibility advocates, including myself, feeling sidelined. (I have served on the Innovation in Accessibility jury since 2020.)
Expanding accessibility
Many modern games — from big-budget releases to indie titles — now offer extensive accessibility menus, but some go further than subtitles, remappable controls, or high-contrast palettes. Motive Studio’s 2023 remake of Dead Space introduced sophisticated options to reduce or obscure traumatic content, including selective blurring and the removal of language or imagery related to self-harm. These features expanded the industry’s definition of accessibility by addressing cognitive and emotional needs, proving that accommodation can coexist with creative vision.
EA’s FC 26, released in September, pushed that boundary by introducing High Contrast Mode into a competitive multiplayer context — a feature historically reserved for single-player titles such as The Last of Us Part II and God of War Ragnarök. Giving players with low vision more visual cues in multiplayer environments is a notable step toward making online competition more inclusive.
More ways to play
Accessible software is essential, but settings alone can’t address every barrier. For many players with physical disabilities, the choice of hardware and peripherals determines whether they can play at all. That’s why recent innovations in controller design matter.
In August, Byowave revealed the Proteus Controller in collaboration with Microsoft — a modular system that lets users arrange buttons and stick pads inside connectable cubes to build custom layouts. The Proteus represents a new direction for accessible hardware at a time when most controllers still mirror traditional designs.
Third-party manufacturers have also led notable advances. PlayStation released an official Access Controller in 2023, while 8BitDo teamed up with Andréas and Oskar Karlsson to produce the compact Lite SE in July 2022, which places every input on the controller face and increases stick and button sensitivity to accommodate limited reach and strength. Later iterations, like the Lite SE 2.4G for Xbox and Windows, continued that trajectory. I spoke to Andréas ahead of the first Lite SE launch, and the device has since become indispensable to my setup — enabling me to play titles like Pokémon Legends: Z-A and influencing my decision to buy a Switch 2. While more first‑party accessible hardware would be welcome, third-party innovation has been a vital driver of progress.
Even with these successes, the industry has repeatedly failed the disability community in serious ways.
Despite hardware and software gains, 2023 saw Microsoft restrict support for a number of third‑party peripherals, leaving players who depended on unconventional controllers — such as fight sticks — unable to use their setups. That decision, and subsequent moves like PlayStation’s January 2024 discontinuation of support for the Cronus Zen emulator, stripped many disabled players of essential tools that don’t yet have replacements.
Lack of support at work
The industry’s employment turmoil has also had uneven impacts. Massive layoffs over recent years have left thousands of developers without work, and disabled professionals among them can lose access to crucial medication and care when employment-dependent health benefits disappear. Disabled workers affected by layoffs face serious, sometimes life-threatening consequences.
At the same time, many studios are withdrawing remote options and enforcing return-to-office policies that effectively exclude employees who rely on remote accommodations. These shifts not only push talented disabled workers out of the industry, they also weaken the internal advocacy that produces accessible games, tools, and infrastructure.
