Through amplifying underrepresented voices in video games, Many Cats Studios hopes to highlight what the industry is missing.
A recent study from disability charity Scope UK found that 40% of gamers with an impairment or health condition say they have bought games they haven’t been able to play due to poor accessibility.
While in recent years larger companies like Sony have added features like text-to-speech, narrative audio cues, and subtitle customisation, many games still fail to provide these options, among various others.
This is where Many Cats Studios comes in – a UK-based organisation on a mission to change this. Led by people with disabilities, they work to increase these voices and present new solutions to barriers in games.
Founded by Chris Goodyear in 2017, the company was inspired by his experience of working in the field as someone who is hard of hearing. “I wanted to create a bridge between disabled people and the games industry,” he says.
At university, he noticed there was a lot of focus on fitting in, which at times felt disempowering. After graduating, he faced obstacles in his work environment, such as being provided with only wired earphones, which couldn’t be used with his hearing aids.
“There was no consideration that some people might need a different set-up,” he says.
After leaving his job, he went through a university funding scheme for startup businesses, setting up Many Cats, with his goal to improve accessibility in games for people who are neurodivergent and disabled. A large part of their work is mentoring companies to make their workplaces more inclusive.
The team also do consulting, where they test and evaluate games to develop and improve accessibility features. They highlight things like how relying on colours can make gaming difficult for colourblind players, something which may not have been obvious to the game’s designer but is to a lot of users.
“Many designers assume that if they understand it, then everybody else will,” Many Cats’ Senior Accessibility Consultant, Harriet Frayling, told us.
Each year, they hold an online event called ‘Impact’ during disability pride month in July, where speakers from the industry talk about their work.
“It’s about showcasing people who are disabled and also work in games, ” and being fully virtual, “an opportunity for people to get speaking experience, which a lot of disabled people don’t get because so many events are in person,” Harriet says.
Recently partnering with Women in Games, a non-profit organisation aiming to increase female representation in the sector, the two are working together on a campaign to create awareness and opportunities for blind and visually impaired women. “We need to really push and help more voices get here,” says Chris.
Women remain underrepresented in the field, with a report from The Game Developers Conference finding men make up around two thirds of game producers. Women in Games further report the number of visually impaired women working in the field is ‘very low’.
“There are never any female blind participants on panels,” Chris points out. “What stops them coming into games?”
With first-hand knowledge at their work’s core, they are trying to advocate for more voices. “There are lots of experts in accessibility who are not disabled. We add that extra bit of lived experience and authenticity, and where we can’t give that, we know someone who can,” Harriet says.
As the organisation grows, the team hopes for better inclusivity to become more evident across all areas of games, with Harriet adding, “We’re very passionate about passing it along, educating people and making it so that others don’t have to struggle the way we did.”