Xbox: Consumers Can Now Easily Find Games with Accessibility Features

Xbox Unveils Accessibility Tags for All Digital Services – Enhancing Discoverability of Inclusive Games

Xbox announced this week the availability of accessibility tags from the Accessible Games Initiative across all its digital services, including consoles, PC, mobile devices, and digital stores. This integration simplifies the process for players, particularly those with disabilities, to identify a game’s accessibility features before purchase, offering insights beyond typical storyline, genre, or gameplay elements revealed in trailers. This initiative launched in time for Disability Pride Month. The Accessible Games Initiative was established through collaboration between Microsoft and other major gaming entities, including the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Electronic Arts, Google, Nintendo of America, Riot Games, Sony, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros. The tags themselves, first announced in March 2025, aim to provide clear, objective information about game accessibility features. Building on previous efforts, Microsoft also introduced the Xbox Game Accessibility Feature program last year, which focused on providing gamers with accessibility information.

Xbox is the first platform to fully integrate these 24 standardized accessibility tags throughout its system. These tags now appear at the top of every game listing on the Xbox Store, allowing users to click on them for detailed information on how a game addresses various needs. For example, Rare’s Sea of Thieves features 7 accessibility options. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight offers 13 features, such as adjustable input sensitivity, large and clear subtitles, multiple volume controls for audio, color alternatives, and options to skip button holds. This implementation marks a significant advancement for accessible gaming, particularly for Xbox’s over 429 million players with disabilities, assisting them in finding suitable games and understanding available features. While Xbox has implemented these tags, other initiative partners like Sony and Nintendo have not yet added them to their platforms.

Xbox Spotlights Accessible Gaming Advocates in Multilingual Interviews

Further details are available on Xbox Wire in Portuguese, which includes an interview with Brannon Zahand, Senior Technical Program Manager at Xbox, and Steve Saylor, a content creator and gaming accessibility advocate. Additionally, the Microsoft Game Developer Blog features an English interview with Phil Crabtree, Technical Director and Co-founder of Kaizen Game Works, discussing his team’s work in accessible game development and the importance of the Accessible Games Initiative tags.

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