Bringing PlayStation Games to PC is Important for Accessibility

While first-party PlayStation games have, historically, only appeared on PlayStation home consoles, that stance has been starting to change a little over the past couple of years, as more and more of the company’s tentpole releases have been released on PC, albeit a little bit later than they’re released on consoles.

This all began in the spring of 2020, with the announcement that PlayStation 4 title Horizon: Zero Dawn would be getting a port to PC, three and a half years after the title’s original release.

At the time this was a surprising step for Sony and PlayStation to take, but over the past two years it’s become clear that the publisher was more than happy with the results of that experiment, with more and more PlayStation titles being ported to PC, closer and closer to their initial release dates on console.

So today, on Access-Ability, we’re going to be talking about PlayStation ports coming to PC, and how that improves accessibility for those previously console exclusive titles.

We’re going to talk about the hardware accessibility options that PC gaming supports, some of the software tools that gamers are able to make use of, and the reasons that prompt PC ports are important, even for PlayStation’s most software accessible titles.

To start off, let’s talk a little bit about the kinds of titles PlayStation has so far ported to PC, and the length of time that gamers can expect to wait to see PC ports of PlayStation games in future.

Right now, gamers with a PC can play formerly PlayStation exclusive titles Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, with Spider-Man: Miles Morales and The Last of Us: Part 1 coming to PC in the not too distant future.

Sony has confirmed that, going forward, players should expect at least a 12 month delay between games being released on console, and getting ported to PC, for single player games like those currently mentioned, with exceptions only being made for live service titles that PlayStation wants to have a larger player base for on release day.

Now, of all the titles I mentioned being ported to PC, I think the one I want to focus in on today is The Last of US: Part 1, because in many ways it is the best example of why PC ports are valuable, even for PlayStation console titles that are already lauded for being highly accessible.

The Last of Us: Part 1 is, at the time of recording, probably the best example to point to in terms of AAA console gaming, for a video game that gets most things pretty close to perfect in terms of software level accessibility settings on offer.

There are some settings that are inconsistently applied, such as the inclusion of audio descriptions only for very specific cutscenes, but the game is playable start to finish by sightless blind players, features wonderful visual accessibility tools for players with reduced vision, has a wide selection of options to support deaf and hard of hearing players, and a near unending list of settings options designed to help players with motor control disabilities engage with the game.

And still, the game is not accessible for all disabled players, and some of those players will be a lot more likely to be able to play once the game comes to PC.

The PlayStation 5, at present, is the only one of the three major consoles to not officially feature support for any kind of mass produced accessibility controller, or support for mouse and keyboard play. This means that players who cannot use a traditional gamepad to play video games, and may need for example foot pedals, or a larger and easier to maneuver joystick, cannot currently play PlayStation 5 games, regardless of any software accessibility settings offered, like those in The Last of Us: Part 1.

Players who rely on keyboard macros to map multiple button presses or inputs to a single button don’t always have this functionality available to them on console.

Additionally, some disabled gamers rely on an Xbox feature called Co-Pilot mode to be able to play video games, which is not available on PlayStation consoles, but can be made to work on PC, even if you might need an Xbox console to help make it operate.

Co-Pilot mode allows two controllers to be registered by a video game as a single controller, allowing for setups where a second player helps a disabled player pilot their character, or where a disabled player makes use of two controllers to more comfortably spread out their inputs.

When PlayStation games are ported to PC, this functionality becomes possible for them to implement while playing these games.

While The Last of Us: Part 1 does feature robust text to speech support for blind players, not all PlayStation console releases do, and players on PC, in theory, have access to screen reader tools which can help them to navigate games that don’t have that support built in, assuming that the specific port to PC is built in such a way that it does work with common screen readers.

And, finally, once PlayStation games are brought to PC, they are opened up to mod support, which can help to fill any specific lingering accessibility issues left remaining in the game.

Obviously, we shouldn’t be relying on the modding community to help disabled gamers play these titles, but in a situation where someone has a niche or overlooked accessibility need, there is room for that support to be developed and added post release.

Now, I want to be clear that the above list of examples is far from exhaustive, and isn’t meant to cover every single benefit possible to disabled gamers when we see PlayStation games ported from console to PC. For example, in some cases things as simple as easier access to streaming and video call tools can make it easier for a disabled gamer to have a friend watch as they play, and help guide them through tricky sections. However, I hope that this gets the overall point across that it’s a great thing that we’re seeing more PlayStation titles being ported to PC, and that this becoming a more predictable practice for Sony.

While a 12 month minimum delay between console and PC releases isn’t ideal for gamers who need a PC release for accessibility purposes, I understand it as a business decision by Sony. While it’s far from the day and date PC release approach that Microsoft employs with Xbox first-party titles, it’s still a step ahead of some of their competition.

PlayStation is making more of their games accessible to more people by porting their games to PC, and I hope that we eventually see Nintendo follow suit. Right now they are the only company of the three major console manufacturers not to have any real presence on PC, and their catalogue of titles is less accessible as a result.Hello, and welcome to another episode of Access-Ability.

I’m your host Laura. I’m an animated depiction of a white woman with bright blue hair, shaved on one side, wearing a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt, and black jeans.

This all began in the spring of 2020, with the announcement that PlayStation 4 title Horizon: Zero Dawn would be getting a port to PC, three and a half years after the title’s original release. At the time this was a surprising step for Sony and PlayStation to take, but over the past two years it has become clear that the publisher was more than happy with the results of that experiment, with more and more PlayStation titles being ported to PC, closer and closer to their initial release dates on consoles.

So today, on Access-Ability, we’re going to be talking about PlayStation ports coming to PC, and how that improves accessibility for those previously console exclusive titles. We’re going to talk about the hardware accessibility options PC gaming supports, some of the software tools gamers are able to make use of, and the reasons that prompt PC ports are important, even for PlayStation’s most software accessible titles.

Sony has confirmed that, going forward, players should expect at least a 12 month delay between games releasing on console, and getting ported to PC, for single player games like those currently mentioned, with exceptions only being made for live service titles that Sony wants to have a large player base on release day.

Now, of all of the titles I mentioned being ported to PC, I think the one I want to focus in on today is The Last of US: Part 1, because it in many ways is the best example of why PC ports are valuable, even for PlayStation console titles already lauded for being highly accessible.

The Last of Us: Part 1, at the time of recording, probably the best example to point to in AAA console gaming, for a video game that gets most things pretty close to perfect in terms of software level accessibility settings offered. There are some settings that are inconsistently applied, such as the inclusion of audio descriptions only for very specific cutscenes, but the game is playable start to finish by some sightless blind players, features wonderful visual accessibility tools for players with reduced vision, has a wide selection of options to support deaf and hard of hearing players, and a near unending list of settings options designed to help players with motor control disabilities engage with the game.

And still, the game is not accessible for all disabled players, and some of those players will be a lot more likely to be able to play once the game comes to PC.

In addition, players who rely on keyboard macros to map multiple button presses or inputs to a single button do not have this functionality on console.

Additionally, some disabled gamers rely on an Xbox feature called Co-Pilot mode to be able to play video games, which is not available on PlayStation consoles, but can be made to work on PC, if you happen to have an Xbox console to help it operate.

Co-Pilot mode allows two controllers to be registered by a video game as a single controller, allowing for setups where a second player helps a disabled player pilot their character, or where a disbled player makes use of two controllers to more comfortably spread out their inputs. When PlayStation games are ported to PC, this functionality becomes possible for these games.

While The Last of Us: Part 1 does feature robust text to speech support for blind players, not all PlayStation console releases do, and players on PC in theory have access to screen reader tools on PC which can help to navigate games without that support built in, assuming the specific port is built in such as way that it works with common screen readers.

And, finally, once PlayStation games are brought to PC, they are opened up to mod support, which can help to fill any specific lingering accessibility issues remaining in the game. Obviously, we shouldn’t be relying on the modding community to help disabled gamers play these titles, but in a situation where someone has a niche or overlooked accessibility need, there is room for that support to be added post release.

Now, I want to be clear that the above list of examples is far from exhaustive, and is not meant to cover every single benefit possible to disabled gamers when we see PlayStation games ported to PC. For example, in some cases things as simple as easier access to streaming and video call tools can make it easier for a friend to watch as you play, and help guide a player through tricky sections. However, I hope that this gets at the overall point that it’s a great thing we’re seeing more PlayStation titles being ported to PC, and this becoming a more predictable practice for the company.

While a 12 month minimum delay between console and PC releases isn’t ideal for gamers who need a PC release for accessibility purposes, I understand it as a business decision by Sony. While it’s far from the day and date PC release approach Microsoft employs, it’s still a step ahead of some of their competition.

PlayStation is making more of their games accessible to more people by porting games to PC, and I honestly hope we eventually see Nintendo follow suit. Right now they are the only company of the three major console manufacturers not to have any real presence on PC, and their catalogue of titles is less accessible as a result.