White Paper: Greying Gamers Will Require More Accessibility Options

As the gaming population continues to get older—and the chances increase for acquiring disabilities—the onus is on game makers now more than ever to provide accessible games.

This is the conclusion offered by a newly released white paper from the AbleGamers Foundation and 7-128 Software entitled Gaming on a Collision Course (PDF). The report uses 2009 demographic data from the ESA to illustrate that about half of all gamers were between the ages of 18 and 49. A full 25% of the gaming population is over 50 years old however, and the median age of U.S. gamers is on the rise, from 30 in 1995, to 33 in 2007 and 35 in 2008.

The white paper states, “If the gaming industry does not realign their priorities to include accessible gaming, then a collision will happen in the next five years. The effects would be destructive to the game makers both in terms of lost sales and lost customers. The time to start making more games accessible is now.”

A few recommended accommodations for disabled gamers from the report include featuring variable size fonts and typefaces, allowing specific color changes for color blind gamers, variable speed settings (which would allow motion impaired gamers to use less rapid response access methods to play) and allowing players to remap button configurations.

If developers and manufacturers think that adding such accommodations would not be cost effective, the report warns, “Their perception, however, may be miscalculated. As much as $3 billion of potential revenue is not being realized because gamers are being removed from the market space as they age.”