New Xbox service lets players submit accessibility feedback to developers

By Jesse Lennox October 13, 2022

Xbox hosted its second annual Xbox Accessibility Showcase this morning as part of its month-long celebration of the Disability community, showcasing personal stories from gamers and announcing brand new features coming to their console and future titles. The updates include the introduction of a new service that lets players with disabilities submit feedback to developers.

Xbox has been a leader in inclusive gaming for years. It developed an adaptive controller to allow those with physical impairments a customizable way to play games, partnered with Special Olympics to host the yearly Gaming for Inclusion Esports event, and has implemented tons of accessibility features into its systems and first-party titles.

Hosted by accessibility consultant Steve Saylor, this year’s presentation not only showcased how Xbox looks to empower many disabled gamers, but also announced brand new features to further demonstrate their commitment to making gaming as accessible as possible for the over 400 million players with disabilities around the world.

The Xbox Accessibility page. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first major update will be an expansion of the Microsoft Gaming Accessibility Testing Service (MGATS). MGATS will soon include a dedicated Players with Disability service where players can submit feedback directly to developers on how they can improve areas such as menu navigation and settings in their games. This will go hand-in-hand with an improved Xbox Accessibility Support page to help those with disabilities find games that have accessibility options more easily on both console and PC to allow them to spend less time looking for games and more time playing.

Finally, the stream detailed some specific accessibility options coming to upcoming titles Stories of Blossom and Pentiment, such as multiple text and font options, as well as to already released games such as Grounded and As Dusk Falls.

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