How a legally blind gamer helped make God of War: Ragnarok more accessible

At this year’s The Game Awards ceremony, God of War: Ragnarok received multiple wins.

But it might be the Innovation in Accessibility award that God of War: Ragnarok is most remembered for, and that’s thanks in part to a player named Ben, aka Ben Sightless Kombat.

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As reported by Sky newsSightlessKombat worked with God of War: Ragnarok developers Sony Santa Monica on the accessibility features that earned it the award.

Ben has been playing games for years and was able to play God of War (2018) with “sighted assistance,” meaning someone who could see the game had to help with instructions.

Sony Santa Monica became aware of streams of Ben’s gameplay, they asked him for a demonstration of how he plays games and consulted him on what features would allow him to play a game unaided.

Ben was included in the end credits of the game as proof of his involvement.

Accessibility features include text-to-speech capabilities for menus, audio descriptions for environments and gameplay, and features to facilitate certain repetitive tasks.

Other titles released by Sony, such as The Last of Us Part II, have also included similar accessibility options and have been similarly well received.

Ben is the Accessible Gaming Officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People and hopes to raise awareness of the importance of these features in the future.

Ben says: “There is still a lot to do.”

Written by Dave Aubrey on behalf of GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN.

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