With less than three months until the release of Bethesda’s major release Starfield, fans of the title are concerned about the lack of information regarding the game’s accessibility features. Disabled gamers have been enjoying more games than ever due to the uptick in accessibility features in modern gaming, and many players hope that Starfield continues the trend.
Last month, Bethesda released an almost hour-long Starfield Direct that showcased the many features that the game has to offer. Fans witnessed how the combat works, how to customize spaceships, travel from planet to planet, and even how to take sandwiches from enemy vessels and store them in their own. But despite the large amount of footage shown for the title, nothing in the Direct, or any further announcements, have covered how the accessibility options work for the game. In fact, it’s not clear if there are any accessibility options at all.
According to IGN, Bethesda’s silence on Starfield’s accessibility features has gotten some disabled players worried if they’ll be able to actually play the game. Disabled gamers like Kolo Jones, who suffers from ADHD, as well as spondyloarthritis, which causes inflammation in her spine, making it difficult for her to grip controllers. With these conditions, Jones will need explicit “quest markers” to travel to and from the many planets of Starfield, as well as additional controller support for twin-stick movement and button presses. Jones is excited for the game, but having to use both thumbsticks while pressing multiple buttons the traditional way may prevent her from playing it.
Unfortunately, Bethesda games have a history of lacking accessibility features, and one disabled gamer named Matthew Allcock discovered this the hard way. Before he was inflicted with nystagmus, a disability that involves rapid, repetitive eye movements, he would enjoy playing Bethesda titles such as Fallout and Skyrim. As his disability progressed, it became impossible for him to continue playing due to how difficult it was to locate enemies, find objects, and travel around the map. Allcock hopes that Starfield breaks the tradition and adds the features needed to help him enjoy the game.
In the past few years, there have been many fantastic video games with excellent accessibility features and game companies have been doing a great job at catering to those who need a little extra help. Adding these features is not always an easy thing to do, but hopefully, Starfield can be added to the list of great titles for disabled gamers later this year.
Starfield launches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: IGN