According to Polygon, the past five years have delivered both celebration and frustration for disabled gamers. Since 2019, accessibility has evolved from PlayStation’s first accessible controller in 2023 to major companies forming a coalition for accessible game tags in 2025. The Game Awards introduced its Innovation in Accessibility Award in 2020, honoring The Last of Us Part 2, but controversially demoted it to the pre-show last year. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s 2023 ban on third-party peripherals and PlayStation’s 2024 Cronus Zen restriction left many disabled players without alternatives. The industry also lost prominent advocate Brandon Cole in June 2024 and uncovered that influential figure Susan Banks never actually existed.
Hardware breakthroughs
Here’s the thing about accessibility – software options only get you so far. For physically disabled players, the hardware itself often needs reimagining. And we’ve seen some genuinely exciting developments there. The 8BitDo Lite SE controller, born from a father-son collaboration, put all buttons on the front face and became a game-changer for many. Then came Microsoft’s partnership with Byowave on the Proteus Controller – this modular cube system that lets you build your own controller layout. That’s the kind of thinking that actually expands who can play.
But then you get these baffling corporate decisions that undermine everything. Microsoft, the company behind the “When Everyone Plays, We All Win” motto, suddenly bans a bunch of third-party peripherals? PlayStation follows suit with the Cronus Zen? It feels like two steps forward, one step back constantly. These companies will pour resources into developing accessible hardware while simultaneously restricting the very tools disabled players rely on.
Software innovation
The software side has seen some genuinely groundbreaking work. Dead Space’s content censorship options showed that cognitive accessibility matters just as much as motor or visual access. Then EA launches FC 26 with high contrast mode for competitive multiplayer – that’s huge. We’re talking about features that literally redefine what’s possible for disabled gamers.
But look at the bigger picture. The same companies creating these innovations are laying off thousands, including accessibility advocates. They’re forcing return-to-office mandates that effectively push out disabled workers. How can you separate the accessibility features in games from the people who fight for them? You can’t. When companies treat their disabled employees as disposable, it undermines the entire accessibility movement.
Community losses
This might be the hardest part to process. The disability community lost Brandon Cole in 2024 – a legendary advocate who helped pioneer features like Forza’s Blind Driving Assists. His work influenced countless developers and made racing games accessible to blind players for the first time.
Then there’s the Susan Banks situation. Basically, one of the most prominent voices in accessibility advocacy turned out to be fictional. This person who helped revolutionize games journalism, who put disability at the forefront – never existed. The community is still processing what that means. It’s not just losing a leader; it’s losing trust in each other. When your community is built on shared struggle and someone exploits that for years? That cuts deep.
Mixed signals
So where does that leave us after five years? We have incredible hardware like the Proteus Controller and software innovations that keep pushing boundaries. Major publishers are finally taking accessibility seriously, with features becoming standard rather than exceptional. Even services like Xbox Game Pass make gaming more accessible through affordability.
But the progress feels fragile. When companies can reverse accessibility policies overnight, when layoffs target the very advocates pushing for change, when the community itself suffers these profound losses – it’s hard to feel optimistic. The past five years proved that accessibility is possible. The next five will determine whether it becomes permanent or remains conditional on corporate whims.
