Electronic Art s wants as many people as possible to play video games comfortably. To do this, the company has opened access to five patented technologies for people with disabilities. This means that any developer will be able to use these solutions and implement them into their project.Apex Legends
The patented systems are designed to help players with various speech, hearing, vision and cognitive impairments.
Electronic Arts also notes that it will not sue developers for using these patents.
List of patentsA signal system, a patent for which was issued today by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
- It is used in Apex Legends and allows players to communicate using quick commands.A ping system that is designed for people with hearing, speech and cognitive impairments.
- With it, players can transmit contextual visual and audio messages to each other without using a headset or microphone.Three technologies that increase the accessibility of video games for people with vision problems.
- The system automatically detects and changes colors, as well as their brightness and contrast. Today it is used in the FIFA and Madden NFL series.A similar system for people with color blindness.
- Electronic Arts has published the solution code on GitHub. It can be used and improved by any developers.Audio customization technology that helps players with hearing impairments.
- According to EA, the system changes in-game music taking into account the auditory characteristics, preferences and limitations of such users. Now it is not yet used in the company’s games.Electronic Arts also called on all developers with the necessary resources to use the above patents to the maximum and reveal their own technologies in the field of accessibility.
Earlier, EA launched a special “accessibility portal”, where it talks about the work of similar functions and technologies in its games.
Today, many companies are trying to increase the availability of their games. For example, Microsoft in February launched a special platform for cooperation with developers in this direction.