In celebration of Disability Pride Month, Xbox has announced the rollout of the new Accessible Games Initiative tags across all digital Xbox experiences. This includes Xbox Cloud Gaming. It marks a major step forward in making it easier for players with disabilities to discover games that meet their accessibility needs. This applies no matter where or how they play.
Now live across Xbox consoles, PC, mobile, web storefronts, and Xbox Cloud Gaming, the tags provide clear, standardized information about a game’s accessibility features. This information is available before purchase or download. Whether a player is browsing from their console or streaming on the cloud, they’ll now see the same consistent accessibility tags.
About the Accessible Games Initiative
The initiative is part of a broader, industry-wide collaboration between Xbox and key players in gaming. This includes the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Electronic Arts, Google, Nintendo of America, Ubisoft, and more. Together, they’ve formed the Accessible Games Initiative to standardize how accessibility information is communicated across games.
This move builds on the groundwork Xbox laid in 2021 with its original Game Accessibility Feature Tags. Those tags will remain on the platform. They will be used especially in cases where no direct equivalent exists in the new system. This offers a more complete and flexible tagging solution for players.
Brannon Zahand, Senior Technical Program Manager at Xbox, and accessibility advocate Steve Saylor spoke with Team Xbox about the significance of this evolution in accessibility support. Their conversation highlighted the value of transparency for the more than 429 million players worldwide living with a disability. It also emphasized that these tags inform purchasing decisions. Furthermore, they help foster a more inclusive gaming environment.
Developers are also weighing in. In a related piece on the Microsoft Game Developer Blog, Phil Crabtree, Technical Director and Co-founder of Kaizen Game Works, shared insights. He discussed designing with accessibility from day one. Moreover, he explained the impact of these tags on development decisions.
With the addition of the Accessible Games Initiative tags to Xbox Cloud Gaming, players using cloud services can expect the same accessibility awareness as those playing on local hardware. This ensures that inclusive design remains front and center in the cloud gaming future.
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