PS5 Will Make It Easier To Know A Game’s Options Before You Buy

The PlayStation Store will get a solid classification upgrade this week with accessibility tags, a new list of descriptors that developers can put on games to highlight their specific accessibility support, Sony announced in a blog post this week.

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The tags are meant to “provide detailed insight into the accessibility features supported in games,” according to Sony’s post. When the feature rolls out globally this week, you’ll be able to simply press Triangle on DualShock and DualSense controllers when browsing a game on the PlayStation Store to see the list of accessibility tags it has before making a purchase.

There are ‘more than 50’ accessibility tags

Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Store will have “more than 50 accessibility tags available for game developers to choose from.” They are divided into six different categories – audio, control, game, web communication, subtitle and visual – with features to change button mapping, color, game speed, sound volume and direction, text, timed events fast etc. more. Below you can see the categories:

Visual accessibility features, such as clear text, large text, color alternatives, audio cues and audio direction indicators. Audio features, such as volume controls, mono audio, screen reader, and visual cue alternatives. Subtitle options, including subtitle size, clear subtitles and large subtitles. Control options, including button remapping, thumbstick sensitivity, and the ability to play without button hold, quick button presses, or motion control. Game options, such as difficulty settings, skippable puzzles, simplified quick-time events, and game speed. Online communication options, such as text or voice chat transcription and ping communication.

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Kotaku has reached out to Sony for comment.

In terms of games that explicitly support accessibility tags, the list isn’t that extensive at the moment. You have Death Stranding and God of War Ragnarök, as well as Days Gone and Returnal. But otherwise, that’s it. However, Sony said it’s “just starting to roll out this feature,” so you’ll definitely see other PlayStation games getting accessibility tags. For now, you can see the full list of games that support this new feature below:

Days GoneDeath Stranding Director’s CutGhost of Tsushima CutGod of WarGod of War Director’s RagnarökGran Turismo 7Marvel’s Spider-Man RemasteredMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles MoralesRatchet & Clank: Rift ApartReturnal

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Sony’s first-party studios, such as Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch, have done some interesting things about accessibility options in its games. The Last of Us Part I is a great example of what an impressive array of accessibility options looks like, something the industry needs to work on standardizing. And Ghost of Tsushima added improved combat hints, increasing the size of the on-screen indicators so you can time them perfectly. While the list of games that support accessibility tags is no longer impressive, it’s still great to see the creator of PlayStation continuing to highlight the work to make gaming an option for everyone. We need that.