By On June 9th 2023 the first annual Access-Ability Summer Showcase was broadcast, showcasing recently released and upcoming video games made by disabled game developers, and featuring accessibility settings designed to help ensure more disabled gamers are able to play.
The showcase returned in June 2024, continuing to highlight upcoming accessibility focused video game releases. The event’s second year was recently awarded Best PR / Comms at the GAconf Accessibility Awards.
In June 2025 the Access-Ability Summer Showcase will be returning for its third year, promising to be bigger and better than ever.
The showcase will be airing on Friday 6th June 2025 at 4pm UK, 11am Eastern, 8am Pacific. This is the opening day of Summer Games Fest 2025, and should position the event as one of the first livestreams taking place during gaming’s biggest news week of the year.
What To Expect
During the showcase, every game shown will detail a selection of their accessibility settings offerings and accessible design choices, to make sure that gamers watching at home know with confidence if they’ll be able to play an exciting looking game that grabs their interest.
Our aim is to make sure that if a game looks exciting, you don’t have to worry about getting hyped, only to learn later that a game doesn’t support your needs as a player.
At this stage we’re not ready to talk about the lineup for 2025’s event, but the 2023 Summer Showcase highlighted 15 games from a variety of developers, including the release date reveal trailer for Stories of Blossom.
The 2024 event highlighted games such as Elsie, Fishbowl, The Shadow Over Cyberspace, Cellular City, Upheaval, Periphery Synthetic, Magical Delicacy, and Dawnfolk. Many of 2024’s showcase titles went on to be nominated for or win awards throughout the year for their accessibility features and design elements.
How To Watch
The Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2025 will be aired live on Twitch dot TV / LauraKBuzz, as well as published as a YouTube Premiere on Youtube dot com / LauraKBuzz.
American Sign Language, British Sign Language, and Audio Described versions of the presentation will also be available, premiering at the same time.
The showcase will be hosted by Laura Kate Dale, a disabled gamer, accessibility consultant, and host of weekly YouTube show Access-Ability, where she discusses ways that video games can improve accessibility for disabled players. The showcase will also feature segments hosted by other accessibility advocates and disabled gamers.
What’s Different in 2025?
In terms of improving on 2024’s show, I would love to hear from anyone who found the 2024 showcase inaccessible in any way, so that I can try to make improvements to the show going forward. Feel free to email LauraKBuzzOfficial@Gmail.com.
In 2025, I’ll be aiming to secure the showcase a front page slot on Twitch.
Much like 2024, we will be hosting an event page for the showcase on Steam during Summer Games Fest week so that people can find game information and demos in a single place.
I would love to find a way to host an in person event of some kind to make games from the showcase playable in person in 2025. This could take the form of a pop-up event at an accessible venue on the day the showcase airs, or a section within a larger gaming event potentially following the event airing. I am in talks with potential events organisers to make a space to accommodate this, but this is still a little up in the air.
I am also in discussions with some larger scale game developers about potentially being involved in the 2025 Summer Showcase. My hope is that we will be able to ramp up the scale of some of the announcements you’ll get to see at the show, alongside highlighting impressive upcoming indie titles.
Want Your Game Showcased?
If you’re a game developer, and have made an effort to make your game playable by a wide range of disabled players, I’d love for you to reach out. We are taking submissions for games to include in the 2025 showcase, and can be reached at LauraKBuzzOfficial@Gmail.com for more information.
If your in development project needs to be discussed under an Non Disclosure Agreement, that isn’t an issue, and can be discussed over email.
There is no fee for titles selected to be included in the 2025 showcase, and no requirement for your title to be exclusively showcased at this event during Summer Games Fest.
You will be required to produce two trailers for your game by a set submission deadline, approximately three weeks before the showcase airs. The default trailer will be focused on detailing accessibility, while the second version will insert gaps without voice over to make space for audio descriptions to be added by our team. Examples of these two trailer variants can be provided on request.
The early submission deadline for trailers is a firm deadline, due to the time required to produce accessible adapted versions of the showcase as a small team working with outside contractors on adapted translations.
If you would like your game to be a part of the showcase, but producing a trailer is going to be a barrier to your involvement, please do still reach out. In exceptional circumstances we have been known to create a trailer on behalf of developers for titles that show such promise we would be remiss not to include them.
The Access-Ability Summer Showcase has generated coverage on major gaming news outlets consistently across 2023 and 2024. If your game is selected, you can expect the showcase to get a degree of press coverage, with titles such as Periphery Synthetic in 2024 being spotlighted particularly in press coverage due to its unique design and accessibility approach.
The Access-Ability Summer Showcase 2024 received press coverage on outlets including Eurogamer, VGC, PC Gamer, Can I Play That?, Gamespot, The Verge, Destructoid, IGN, and more.
Christian Donlan at Eurogamer said “The Access-Ability Summer Showcase is my favourite part of Summer Game Fest week” in his article covering the 2024 event.
Want to Sponsor the Event?
I would love to hear from any potential sponsors who would be open to being involved in supporting the 2025 Access-Ability Summer Showcase, helping to cover the costs of art assets, and the costs associated with producing accessible versions of the show.
I can be reached at LauraKBuzzOfficial@Gmail.com
Info for Press and Media
For members of the press, feel free to also reach out at the same email. We can provide contacts for interviews, as well as information from the showcase in advance under embargo.
Streamers are also encouraged to co-stream the event. We welcome live reaction coverage of the games showcase by those who are interested.
The Access-Ability Summer Showcase aims to be, going forward, an annual showcase during gaming’s busiest news week, that makes sure disabled players can join in on the hype, safe in the knowledge that at least one gaming showcase makes it clear up front which games are accessible for people with specific disabilities and access needs.
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