While they may not have been around quite as long as other entertainment mediums, video games have enjoyed a fairly rapid increase in popularity over the last few decades, even despite a brief crash in the 1980s. Now, it's estimated that over 3 billion people play video games around the world, and that number is growing by the second. So, with video games now reaching a much wider audience than ever before, it's only natural that the industry would want to cater to as many gamers as possible, leading some developers to put a great deal of effort into ensuring that their games can be enjoyed by everyone. God of War: Ragnarok's Santa Monica Studio is doing just that.
In a recent trailer, Santa Monica Studio went into quite a lot of detail about what accessibility features players can expect in the highly-anticipated title. While some fans were hoping for just a God of War: Ragnarok gameplay trailer, this accessibility showcase highlights the importance of keeping video games open for all and shows that God of War: Ragnarok is leading the charge for the latest generation of accessible video games.
Why Accessibility Features In Games Are So Important
Towards the end of the last generation of consoles, quite a few first-party games and some third-party titles started to include a few more accessibility features as a standard. While games have had subtitle options for quite a while now, games like The Last of Us and its sequel showed gamers that accessibility features can come from a wide variety of places like audio description, color-blind modes, and/or swapping QTEs for button holds. Recent innovations such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller go a long way in keeping the hobby inclusive, and if developers can create their titles with accessibility in mind, then it only serves to benefit every party involved.
In recent games like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon Forbidden West, and Far Cry 6, accessibility features have been a core aspect that doesn't detract from the experience at all, but add so much for those that require them. The more accessibility features a game includes, the wider its audience will be, so it's a win-win for everyone.
God of War: Ragnarok's New Accessibility Features
God of War: Ragnarok takes the groundwork laid by other contemporary titles and continues to take it one step further, offering even more accessibility features than ever before. God of War: Ragnarok is bringing over the first game's accessibility features, adding those included in the recent PC port, and adding a plethora of new ones. In total, there'll apparently be over 60 different accessibility options in God of War: Ragnarok.
Along with the auto-sprint feature, motion sickness sliders, and aiming options of the PC port, God of War: Ragnarok will also bring a range of audio and text-related accessibility features. Some of these include caption size and color, the option to display in-game sound as on-screen text, and the option to give players on-screen text hints about the surrounding environment or puzzles.
God of War: Ragnarok will also include a High Contrast Mode, which makes certain objects, environmental features, or characters appear more obvious against the background by highlighting them in a specific color. According to the game's Lead UX Designer Mila Pavlin, there are plenty more features in store for players when the game releases, which still hasn't been confirmed in any official capacity.
God of War: Ragnarok is in development for PS4 and PS5.
