Xbox Announces AGI Tags Availability, More
Microsoft-owned Xbox put out a blog post this week wherein it announced the Accessible Games Initiative (AGI) tags are available “across all digital Xbox experiences.” Team Xbox wrote the news is “just in time” for Disability Pride Month.
The news comes a few months after Xbox announced plans in March to join the AGI.
“[Xbox] is proud to announce that the new Accessible Games Initiative tags, designed to provide players with clear and consistent information about the accessibility features in video games, are now available across all digital Xbox experiences including console, PC, mobile, and web storefronts,” Xbox wrote in the post’s introduction.
Xbox’s contribution to the AGI, a consortium which includes fellow gaming industry heavyweights Nintendo of America, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and others, builds upon its own work, begun in 2021 with the release of the Xbox Game Accessibility Feature tags. Of note is Xbox’s explicit callout in the announcement that any Xbox accessibility tags which don’t have a correlating AGI tag will remain available on the platform, with the company saying the combination “will make it even easier for players with disabilities to learn about available accessibility features and find their next great game.”
Xbox’s post finishes with an Q&A-style interview with Brannon Zahand, senior technical program manager at Xbox, and content creator and gaming accessibility advocate Steve Saylor. The conversation “[discusses] the work towards greater standardization of accessibility in games, what these tags mean for players today, and why this work is important,” according to Xbox. Additionally, Xbox published another blog post featuring an interview with Phil Crabtree from Kaizen Game Works. Microsoft Game Dev contributing editor Miguel Lopez writes his conversation with Crabtree delves into “how integrating Accessible Games Initiative tags has supported their development practices, highlights the community’s enthusiastic reception, and explores how accessibility tools and standards can further transform the gaming industry.”
I posted an interview with Entertainment Software Association senior vice president Aubrey Quinn back in early April. The executive told me all about her organization’s stewardship of the AGI and the need for tags, as well as how the group came to exist.
“Before the Accessible Games Initiative, the burden was on players to interpret existing tags in the marketplace from platform to platform, game to game. We hope to change that,” Quinn said of the driving force behind the AGI’s formation. “This new initiative is meant to help consumers identify specific accessibility features in individual video games, so that players buying games can make better informed purchasing decisions. Having a clear approach to identify accessibility features across different games, with criteria behind each accessibility tag, will provide consumers with information about the accessibility features they can find in games prior to purchasing them.”
