The newly-released Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been thrilling fans of old-school gaming thanks to its nostalgia-fuelled gameplay and fancy HD graphics.
The remake hasn’t impressed everyone though, with lots of people complaining that the game alienates gamers with disabilities – specifically, deaf players – as the game doesn’t have an option for subtitles.
In a tweet addressing the topic, Game Critics editor Brad Galloway tweeted: “Regarding the glaring lack of subtitles in the Spyro collection – huge publisher @Activision and @ToysForBob (of Skylanders fame) are basically saying ‘we evaluated whether it was worth the cost and effort to keep Deaf and HH players happy, and we decided that it wasn’t.'”
Regarding the glaring lack of subtitles in the Spyro collection – huge publisher @Activision and @ToysForBob (of Skylanders fame) are basically saying “we evaluated whether it was worth the cost and effort to keep Deaf and HH players happy, and we decided that it wasn’t” pic.twitter.com/7JgSWh45hh
— Brad Gallaway (@bradgallaway) November 18, 2018
Okay so, basically, fuck you @Activision and @ToysForBob for not adding subtitles in the first place.
And fuck you if you don’t add them at a later date. https://t.co/hFLggU14ei
— Ben Bayliss (@Ben_Bayliss) November 18, 2018
Activision has released a statement in which it states it will “evaluate going forward,” admitting there’s “no industry standard,” when it comes to subtitles.
People are very upset about the move, with people branding Activision’s decision as “unacceptable.”
I’m glad you’re calling attention to this. It’s really unacceptable. @Activision should be better than this- Don’t evaluate- just add the feature.
— Jeff Ortloff (@JPSJeffOrt) November 18, 2018
It’s definitely not a step forward for the world of gaming – especially considering how far the industry has come when it comes to being more inclusive with its games.
That isn’t how it works. It’s reasonably common for games to patch in localisation / extensions to localisation later, but not implementing English subs because of other languages isn’t something that ever happens.
— Ian Hamilton (@ianhamilton_) November 19, 2018
Earlier this year, Xbox announced its disability-friendly controller, and charities such as Special Effect have been working hard to ensure anyone can play the games they love.
The magic of gaming! Raphael playing with eye control and it is smiles all round! Love this classic @SpecialEffect photo! 💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/6KwTZ38N2F
— SpecialEffect (@SpecialEffect) November 16, 2018
Hopefully subtitles will be introduced in a patch?