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Xbox launches new resource to help developers add inclusion into their games
20.03.2024 - 20:07 / gamesindustry.biz
Xbox has launched the 'Gaming For Everyone Product Inclusion Framework', a series of resources and information on how to make games more inclusive.
It was announced during a talk at GDC 2024 in San Francisco, and covers four key areas of 'globalisation, accessibility, representation and approachability'. The Framework was first launched internally in 2019, and now Microsoft is making it available for other studios here.
The project is led by the firm's Gaming for Everyone team, which started in 2015 in order to bring 'gaming to everybody on the planet'.
"What we found in the early days of Gaming For Everyone, is that people – even internally – got inspired by the idea," Katy Jo Wright, Xbox's head of Gaming for Everyone & Sustainability, tells GamesIndustry.biz.
"And we saw teams who went on and did things that brought it to life, like the Xbox Adaptive Controller. But we wanted to see it consistently across the organisation. So my team went on this listening tour inside Xbox to understand what was going on and how people were making it real. That is how we discovered people were inspired by Gaming For Everyone, but they didn't know how to translate that into their own day-to-day. It was: 'if I'm not a decision maker determining what hardware we build, how do I make it real?'
We were like 'ah'. Because our messaging was around how it is up to each of us to make decisions, every day, to bring this intentionality to include. It was doing that learning that set us onto another journey to create what is now the Product Inclusion Framework."
The framework goes public at a time where a small subset of gamers have been pushing against diversity efforts in games. Are there concerns that perhaps some developers might become wary of introducing some of the ideas put forward in the framework? Wright doesn't think so.
"We started doing this because, as developers, we want to get our games played by as many people as possible. It's all about expanding reach," she explains.
"When you talk to a developer… do you want to limit how many people play your game? No. That's how we think about it. Then each developer gets to make the decision for themselves over who they want to expand their player reach to.
"The framework is not a checklist. It's not a mandate. Even internally, it's not that at all. It's just… a way for you to get your game into the hands of more players in a meaningful way."
Wright uses the notion of 'doorways', and how for some people the doorway to gaming is closed. The framework shares guidance and ideas on how to open those doorways, but that doesn't mean every game should be looking to open every doorway.
"It's not about opening every door for every type of game, because that could make the game vanilla. It's
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