At Xbox, our goal is to empower as many people as possible to play the games they want, with the people they want, anywhere they want, in a way that works for them. This includes the more than 429 million players with some form of disability, who may rely on a variety of accessibility hardware – such as the recently launched Xbox Adaptive Joystick – and features to get the most from their gaming.

For many players, it can be a challenge not having a common and consistent language to describe the accessibility features within different video games. To help solve this, Xbox introduced its Game Accessibility Feature Tags back in November 2021.

But we want to do more, and today at Game Developers Conference (GDC), Xbox proudly joined forces with Electronic Arts, Google, Nintendo of America, Ubisoft and other gaming companies to announce that it is a member of the new Accessible Games Initiative.  

This initiative, helmed by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), strives to provide players with clear information about the accessibility features in video games through a set of “tags” that players can use to identify the features available in a specific game, before they make a purchase.  

To ensure there is no duplication between tags, and every tag adds unique value for players, Xbox will replace existing Xbox Game Accessibility Feature tags with their equivalent Accessible Games Initiative tags.  Any Xbox Game Accessibility Feature tags that do not have equivalent Accessible Games Initiative tags will remain on our platform. This combination of tags will make it even easier for players with disabilities to find their next great game and understand the accessibility features available to play.

We are excited to be part of the Accessible Games Initiative and happy to share our years of learnings from our Xbox Game Accessibility Feature Tags to help inform these new tags, alongside our partners. As with any advancements made that enable more people to play, we are thrilled to see more steps being taken in the name of inclusion and greater standardization of accessibility in games. We hope this collaborative effort across multiple gaming companies signals the power of accessibility to connect people, bring joy, and build community to the rest of the industry. 

In the same way, we hope the Accessible Games Initiative emboldens game developers to not only implement these tags in the name of inclusion, but inspires them to consider building more accessibility into their games as a result.

Xbox is working with developers around the world to implement Accessible Games Initiative tags across participating titles. Once ready, players will be able to find both sets of tags in a variety of digital Xbox experiences.

In the meantime, players can find the descriptions for each tag on the Accessible Games Initiative website. With the Accessible Games Initiative tags, players no longer need to worry about guessing what a tag means for each individual game, and you can know exactly what to expect before you buy a game. 

Stay tuned for more information.  Visit www.accessiblegames.com to explore the tags and learn more.