There are numerous features developers must consider implementing when developing their games. These could be large, overarching ones – ‘How big should the game world be?’ ‘Will it need to support multiplayer?’ – or some of the less critical, but no less important, questions to answer… like what color should the doors be on a house?
Accessibility in gaming has grown significantly in recent years among game developers who have been more conscious of adding these types of features into their games, ensuring more people can play them across all facets of the gaming community. This could be anything from including a color-blind option, a high contrast mode, or game difficulty adjustments to name a few.
At this year’s ID@Xbox Showcase event at GDC, I had a chance to talk with Philip Crabtree, technical director and co-founder of Kaizen Game Works Limited, who was showcasing Promise Mascot Agency, which had the Xbox Adaptive Controller as well as the newly launched Xbox Adaptive Joystick enabled at their demo station. I was immediately curious to ask how the team decided to dedicate development resources to accessibility, and why it was important to them.
“I don’t think there was a decision; I think it was just something we wanted to do. And I think it was pretty much an unspoken understanding. Whenever an idea came up for an accessibility feature, we didn’t have a meeting about it. It’s just, ‘I’m putting it in,’ it’s as simple as that,” explains Crabtree. “If something comes to us, like a suggestion from someone who played the demo or something we’ve seen in another game, then it’s just mentioned, and we put it in where we can. It’s not a very complicated process.”
In Promise Mascot Agency, you play Mitchy, an exiled Yakuza living in a dying town who is seeking redemption. Your goal is to rebuild a mascot agency by recruiting mascots, helping them regain confidence, and renovating the town where they live. Crabtree describes it as an open-world narrative adventure game that combines crime drama with mini-games – and car battles.
Crabtree’s previous game, Paradise Killer had several accessibility settings that Kaizen’s community responded well to, but they also identified several limitations, such as the inability to alter the style of text dialogue. So, with Promise Mascot Agency, accessibility was a feature they wanted to push further and prioritized it early in development.
“In our Promise Mascot Agency, you drive around in a truck, so we wanted to make sure you could do things like drive without having to hold the triggers. So, we’ve implemented modes where you can just tap to drive and tap to reverse. Same thing with boosting — tap to do this or that. We also wanted to introduce options like high contrast mode so you can easily see objectives on the screen,” Crabtree says while detailing some of the accessibility settings they’ve implemented. “Where there are elements of difficulty, like timers, we wanted to make all those settings changeable so you can make it easier to chase or have more time to read the text. Anything we could think of that was achievable for a small team, we tried to get it in there.”
I asked Crabtree if there were any specific accessibility features the team really wanted to ensure worked well with Promise Mascot Agency, including those that may center around playing with the Xbox Adaptive Controller – which was on-hand at the event for attendees to try. The answer? Everything.
“Everyone wanted the whole game to work (with it). There’s no point in just having 10 percent of the game accessible — we wanted the whole thing. So, once we had [the Xbox Adaptive Controller] in front of us and we could use it, it was then just trying to figure out what the correct method of control is,” explains Crabtree. “As I mentioned before, rather than holding a button down to accelerate, you could tap. And then when you want to brake, do you tap the same button? Do you tap a different button? It’s just trying options to see what fit — we wanted every feature to work with it and I think we managed to get that.”
The team also got to experience using the new Xbox Adaptive Joystick with their game. “The new Xbox Adaptive Joystick is great — I didn’t realize it existed until very recently. I’m happy just to have held it – it’s a wonderful little thing,” says Crabtree.
“When we got the first [Xbox Adaptive Controller], the obvious downfall was we needed an analog stick — the games we make need an analog stick. So, you’d need most if not all the buttons on the controller. That was the first problem when looking at our old games before the new controller came out. But the Xbox Adaptive Joystick is very flexible to assign how you want. It didn’t take anytime at all to figure out how to just control it.”
As Crabtree points out to me, it’s about spotting opportunities in how you approach accessibility. It’s not that a developer needs to think too hard about getting it perfect or questioning who will like it or who won’t like it. “It’s about giving players options and trying to identify what they might be; it’s fairly straightforward,” he says. “Any developer making a game just wants people to play it and wants people to enjoy it. And with these controllers, more people can enjoy it. It feels pretty good to be able to let people find it and connect with the games that previously might have been out of reach.”
And for those developers who are just starting to look at ways to make their game accessible, Crabtree boiled it down simply here as well: Just do it.
“Don’t overthink it. Just have a look at your game and say, ‘Well what is accessibility?’ Don’t just think about motion. Think about things like timers, which could add initial stress or cognitive issues, where you can give people more time to understand what they need to do to take things at their own pace,” Crabtree details.
“Think about all the actions players take in a game. How can you make it more accessible? You don’t have to hit everything. It’d be wonderful if you could, but every little bit helps. And once you’ve done one implementation, then that bit of knowledge can go forward to implement something else. And then on your next game, you can start with that and then keep expanding. So, just do it. People want to play your games. Help them play it.”
Promise Mascot Agency is set for release soon for Xbox Series X|S. You can also check out a free demo of Promise Mascot Agency here.
Editor’s Note: We incorrectly listed this title was coming to Game Pass. We have removed the mention from the post.
Promise Mascot Agency Demo
Kaizen Game Works Limited
Welcome to the Mascot Hustle
You thought mascots were just fluffy, innocent brand ambassadors? Think again. The Mascots are all living, breathing, fully formed personalities, with dreams, fears, and the occasional breakdowns of their own- just like us! Whether it’s Trororo, a charming cat who’s a little too obsessed with “adult video” or sweet, silken To-Fu, who can’t stop sobbing, your job is to befriend, mentor, and (hopefully) get these mascots to finish their jobs without causing a major catastrophe.
Play Your Cards Right
Sending your mascots out to work is never as easy as it sounds. One minute they’re promoting delicious food, the next they’re stuck in a doorway or starting a kitchen inferno. Need help? Good thing Kaso-Machi is full of intrepid everyday heroes ready to lend a hand (if you’ve managed to befriend them, of course). Unlock Hero Cards, featuring Kaso-Machi’s lovable local weirdos like Captain Sign, Japan’s only road-sign superhero (don’t ask questions), or Mama-San, a bar owner with a serious latex collection. These heroes will step in to provide help when your mascots inevitably lose control.
Tear Through Town in Your Upgradable Kei Truck
Kaso-Machi is a town full of secrets, and Michi isn’t just stuck in an office managing mascots – he’s on the road in his rusty (but upgradeable!) Kei Truck. This nifty little ride may look like a heap of junk, but with a few tweaks, it’ll have nitro boosts, glider wings, and even the ability to launch Pinky☆ – Michi’s maniacal mascot assistant – like a missile. Use your truck to explore the strange, forgotten town, unlock collectibles, and uncover hidden mysteries. Who knew a Kei Truck could be your best friend in a town where literally everything else hates you?!
Crime! Drama! A Walking Finger?!
Exiled after an ambush that left his clan in shambles, Michi finds himself piecing together the mystery of what really happened, while the town seems to actively conspire against him. Nightmare spirits seem a little too interested in your business, and there’s an ever-present sense that something’s very, very wrong in this place…
Think you can resist? Think again. The mascots know where you live. Step into the world of Promise Mascot Agency and claim your place in this brave new world of mascot domination.
Promise Mascot Agency
Kaizen Game Works Limited
Welcome to the Mascot Hustle
You thought mascots were just fluffy, innocent brand ambassadors? Think again. The Mascots are all living, breathing, fully formed personalities, with dreams, fears, and the occasional breakdowns of their own- just like us! Whether it’s Trororo, a charming cat who’s a little too obsessed with “adult video” or sweet, silken To-Fu, who can’t stop sobbing, your job is to befriend, mentor, and (hopefully) get these mascots to finish their jobs without causing a major catastrophe.
Play Your Cards Right
Sending your mascots out to work is never as easy as it sounds. One minute they’re promoting delicious food, the next they’re stuck in a doorway or starting a kitchen inferno. Need help? Good thing Kaso-Machi is full of intrepid everyday heroes ready to lend a hand (if you’ve managed to befriend them, of course). Unlock Hero Cards, featuring Kaso-Machi’s lovable local weirdos like Captain Sign, Japan’s only road-sign superhero (don’t ask questions), or Mama-San, a bar owner with a serious latex collection. These heroes will step in to provide help when your mascots inevitably lose control.
Tear Through Town in Your Upgradable Kei Truck
Kaso-Machi is a town full of secrets, and Michi isn’t just stuck in an office managing mascots – he’s on the road in his rusty (but upgradeable!) Kei Truck. This nifty little ride may look like a heap of junk, but with a few tweaks, it’ll have nitro boosts, glider wings, and even the ability to launch Pinky☆ – Michi’s maniacal mascot assistant – like a missile. Use your truck to explore the strange, forgotten town, unlock collectibles, and uncover hidden mysteries. Who knew a Kei Truck could be your best friend in a town where literally everything else hates you?!
Crime! Drama! A Walking Finger?!
Exiled after an ambush that left his clan in shambles, Michi finds himself piecing together the mystery of what really happened, while the town seems to actively conspire against him. Nightmare spirits seem a little too interested in your business, and there’s an ever-present sense that something’s very, very wrong in this place…
Think you can resist? Think again. The mascots know where you live. Step into the world of Promise Mascot Agency and claim your place in this brave new world of mascot domination.
The post How Promise Mascot Agency is Being Built with Accessibility in Mind appeared first on Xbox Wire.
