The Blind Leading the Gamers

Gaming while blind is exactly as difficult as it sounds, especially because sound is virtually all Ross Minor has to go on. But while being nice with the sticks has helped him amass a nice following on Twitch and YouTube, it’s not visibility he’s after—it’s a real job in the video game industry, helping make games more accessible for all.

Minor’s first “job” was on Madden NFL 18—he gave his feedback on a controller rumble feature and led a workshop. His name isn’t in the credits, and he received no money, only a tour of the offices and a signed copy of the game. (The devs did ask him to do more consulting work, but he passed the gig to a friend; Minor doesn’t care for football.) Though things have improved a bit, this isn’t unusual for the industry. Game studios often dangle “consulting” gigs at disabled gamers, only to sit them down with a controller, ask them questions for an hour, and then send them on their way with a gift card. Minor says he was once asked by a AAA game studio to travel across town to their offices to playtest a game—but the payment offered was so low that it wouldn’t even cover the Uber ride.

It’s a delicate dance. Minor, as well as other disability advocates I’ve spoken to—whether for blind or low-vision gamers, those with mobility or cognitive disabilities, or others—are sometimes hesitant to call out studios they’ve had bad experiences with. “There’s a sense that you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Minor says. The concern, in other words, is that if disabled people are seen as being “ungrateful” for what they’ve been “given,” companies will simply turn their backs on them.