In an update being released today, Forza Horizon 5 will be getting American and British Sign Language support for in-game cutscenes.
We’ve known that Forza Horizon 5 would be getting sign language support since the game launched. And now we know that the update introducing this accessibility feature will be going live today, March 1.
Xbox released a video talking about the introduction of the feature, talking about the process of how they went about incorporating sign language. A number of hard of hearing people included in the video noted how English is a second language to them, with sign language being a first. And they highlighted the importance of having both ASL and BSL in the game.
The feature appears to be very customisable. First, you can choose between ASL and BSL. But you can also choose the position of the interpreter. And you can choose whether they have a background or not, and what colour that background is.
Xbox also released a blog post going into more detail about the importance of the new feature. The post quoted one of their accessibility consultants, Akitt, who said “For [the hard of hearing], it’s a really tiring experience, not being able to access your first language. We should be able to access the same story beats and narrative components. Otherwise, we’re only getting half the picture and not getting the full experience.”
It’s an incredibly great feature to include in the game, and a huge step forwards in terms of accessibility. While not every game will need sign language as an accessibility option, hopefully this will encourage more games to have it as one.
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Featured Image Credit: Playground Games