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Games, Business, and Gamers: How to Facilitate a Game Accessibility Transition across the Gaming Ecosystem?

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Art and Sustainability Transitions in Business and Society

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Business, Arts and Humanities ((PSBAH))

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Abstract

In recent years, the digital game industry has grown from a niche market to a multi-billion-euro business with influences that extend beyond entertainment to education, socialization, marketing, and even management practices. During that growth, the industry’s sustainability has faltered, especially in terms of accessible games that can foster the inclusion of gamers who do not possess presumed ‘ideal’ gaming bodies or abilities, for instance, due to disabilities or more common or contextual limitations to their hearing, sight, or other abilities. Most games currently on the market are inaccessible and exclusionary. This situation is not just a threat to human rights and equality but is a threat to the long-term sustainability of the gaming ecosystem as the gaming population continues to age and diversify in terms of needs and abilities. This chapter examines game accessibility and inclusion of people with atypical abilities and disabilities in various aspects of the digital game industry and digital gaming ecosystem. It employs sustainability transitions theory to chart multi-actor interventions, from government to developers, gamers, and players, to transition the industry and ecosystem towards greater inclusivity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering Science, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Lahti, Finland

    Lobna Hassan

  2. School of Business and Healthcare, Arcada University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland

    Pekka Buttler

  3. Department of Management and Organization, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland

    Mikko Vesa

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  1. Lobna Hassan
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  2. Pekka Buttler
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  3. Mikko Vesa
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Correspondence to Lobna Hassan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland

    Hanna Lehtimäki

  2. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Business School, Worcester, MA, USA

    Steven S. Taylor

  3. Business School, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Mariana Galvão Lyra

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Hassan, L., Buttler, P., Vesa, M. (2024). Games, Business, and Gamers: How to Facilitate a Game Accessibility Transition across the Gaming Ecosystem?. In: Lehtimäki, H., Taylor, S.S., Lyra, M.G. (eds) Art and Sustainability Transitions in Business and Society. Palgrave Studies in Business, Arts and Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44219-3_5

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