Sightless Kombat is a popular gamer who streams his gameplay to his followers. Despite being blind, he has become an advocate for gamers without sight, working with the Royal National Institute of Blind People and providing advice to developers on ways to make their titles more accessible. He has drawn attention to the lack of consistency in accessibility features in games, with some features being implemented in one area of a game but not in others. This can make it hard for players with disabilities to progress in the game.
Sightless Kombat relies on audio cues and tweaks to in-game options to play his favorite games. He has had to rely on practice to play the games as well. He does not let his disability stop him from attempting challenges in games. He has tackled God of War Ragnarök on the hardest difficulty, taking down the two hardest optional bosses in the game. This has led to accolades from his followers who are amazed at his gaming skills.
Cari Watterton is the senior accessibility designer at Rebellion Developments, the UK studio behind popular games such as Sniper Elite and Evil Genius series. She has been working with Sightless Kombat on a prototype called Project BlackKat, which is a stealth game that replaces visual radar with auditory vision cones revealing enemy locations through sound. Cari is responsible for making Rebellion’s games more accessible for gamers of all capabilities.
Accessibility is a hot topic in gaming today, with sites like Game Accessibility Nexus and Can I Play That? reviewing games based on their assistance features. However, big releases often lack accessibility features, leading to many players left out. Cari believes there has been progress made in 2023 with more studios recruiting accessibility roles and more games being released with accessibility features. As more people are included in gaming, we all win
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