Every console has its own fair share of firmware updates in its time. These updates usually come every few months or so, and they often bring a few new features and tweaks to the platform, ranging from connectivity improvements to settings changes and everything in between. For the most part, these updates come and go without a second thought, but every so often, a firmware update will improve a console in one significant, noticeable way, and that's exactly the case with this week's PlayStation 5 update.
This week, PlayStation 5 consoles are receiving an update that will add accessibility tags to both the console's homepage and the PlayStation Store. In essence, these accessibility tags will give players an immediate overview on a game's accessibility options, giving gamers a better idea of the product they're purchasing. While many PS5 users will probably never use this feature, this simple addition is part of a much wider movement from PlayStation, and it's an example that the rest of the industry should be following.
PlayStation's Accessibility Tag Feature Is Setting the Right Example
Generally speaking, PlayStation has been a little late to the party when it comes to accessibility. For years now, Xbox has been at the forefront of accessibility in gaming, releasing the phenomenal Xbox Adaptive Controller all the way back in 2018. But while it's taken it quite some time, PlayStation is here now, and it seems determined to make up for its shortcomings in recent years.
Over the last year or so, PlayStation has improved its accessibility offerings significantly. Sony's recent array of first-party titles is at the very forefront of accessibility in gaming, with God of War Ragnarok, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves, and The Last of Us Part 1 all providing some of the most extensive accessibility options in the industry. And now, the PlayStation 5 has a dedicated accessibility tag system, which should hit consoles by the end of the week.
When on the PlayStation 5 homepage, players will now be able to access a new accessibility tag menu, simply by pressing the triangle button while a game is selected. This menu gives players a fairly comprehensive rundown of what accessibility options the game has to offer, all categorized into six key groups. These groups are Visual, Audio, Subtitle and Caption, Control, Gameplay, and Online Communication. By heading into one of these categories, players can see clearly exactly what type of settings the game offers, from text size to thumbstick sensitivity, to text-to-voice. At just a glance, players will be able to determine if a game has the accessibility options they need to play it, saving gamers a lot of time, and potentially a lot of money.
As this system is brand new, it'll only cover a handful of games on launch, with most of those being first-party titles like the ones mentioned above. But according to a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony is currently hard at work collaborating with developers to try and bring this feature to as many games as possible. Hopefully, someday soon, all games on the PlayStation 5 will have accessibility tag integration. It may seem like a simple feature, but it's a definitive step forward for accessibility in gaming, and it's a feature that the rest of the industry should be paying close attention to. Seeing what accessibility options a game offers clearly before purchasing it should simply be a standard for the entire industry, across all platforms.