The 2023 edition of the GAconf Awards premiered today on YouTube. The show, hosted by Steve Saylor, once again was a celebration of the past year’s accessibility advances. Categories and nominees range from indie to AAA, development, research, journalism, events, PR, and advocacy. Every aspect of game accessibility from 2023 was covered. The winners span across many platforms and genres, showing the growing accessibility presence across the industry.
Categories and nominees
We previously listed the categories and nominees of the GAconf Awards 2023. This list of nominees is of course also available on the awards page on the GAconf website. We recommend watching the show, which runs about 75 minutes.
It features a diverse group of amazing guests who join Steve to present the awards themselves. The show is split in three parts, divided by accessibility related ads. These ads are relevant, promoting accessible games, mods, and other initiatives and organizations.
An accessible event repeats
Of course, accessibility of the event itself remained a priority. Viewers (and listeners) have access to audio descriptions, signing in both ASL and BSL, and subtitling in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. Check out the GAconf Awards 2023 playlist for every version. The show is hosted on the IGDA-GASIG YouTube channel. The same channel that also hosts the many valuable accessibility talks from the Game Accessibility Conferences themselves.
The winners
Now if you are still here and just want to know who won, on to the winners. Of course each of the nominees deserved the win, but only one could take the top spot.
- AAA excellence: Forza Motorsport
- Indie excellence: Stories of Blossom
- Best Deaf/HoH accessibility: Hi-Fi Rush
- Best physical/mobility accessibility: Street Fighter 6
- Best blind/low vision accessibility: Forza Motorsport
- Best cognitive accessibility: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Best mental health accessibility: Dead Space
- Best representation: Spider-Man 2
- Best journalism: Grant Stoner
- Best academic research: Audio descriptions in video games? Persons with visual disabilities weigh in
- Hardware accessibility: September PS5 update
- Best resource: Xbox Playbook for Accessible Gaming Events
- Best comms/marketing: PlayStation Access Controller consultant stories
- Most improved: Dead Space (remake)
- Greatest accessibility innovation: Forza Motorsport
- Most dedicated publisher: Ubisoft
- Most dedicated studio: Softleaf Studios
- MVP award for unsung hero: Jessica Roache (Ubisoft)
- The advocacy award: SightlessKombat
We congratulate all the well deserved winners! And we are looking forward to next year’s awards, and especially the accessibility progress they will celebrate from 2024.
