How God of War Made Accessibility a Core Part of Its Game Design
How God of War Made Accessibility a Core Part of Its Game Design
How God of War Made Accessibility a Core Part of Its Game Design
October 2, 2022
By Grant Stoner
Summary
The recent release of The Last of Us Part 1 Remake included every accessibility feature from Part II, as well as a brand-new option for AAA titles-audio descriptive cutscenes.
This November, God of War Ragnarök, from Santa Monica Studio, will be the newest addition in a beloved franchise that demonstrates its own commitment to accessibility.
"One of the earliest steps we had when developing our feature set for God of War Ragnarök was to facilitate a deep dive with accessibility consultants into the concerns and blockers that emerged after the release of God of War," Pavlin says.
"We also reached out to numerous community members to gather qualitative feedback around key areas of accessibility to develop an initial strategy for time and scope. Our team committed to regular play tests with members of the accessibility community and consultants during development to ensure we were meeting our objectives. We also have internal representative staff members from the accessibility community in multiple departments."
The 2018 release of God of War did provide some accessibility features such as customizable controls, speaker indicators for subtitles, and the option to skip quick-time events.
Shortly after God of War's 2018 launch, the team began work on developing an extensive set of accessibility tools for disabled players.
In January, PlayStation rereleased the original God of War on PC, bringing with it new accessibility options previously unavailable in the console version.
Reference
Stoner, G. (2022, October 02). How 'god of war' made accessibility a core part of its game design. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.wired.com/story/god-of-war-santa-monica-accessibility-game-design/