EA has made two of its patents accessible to the public, declaring them open-source, allowing non-EA developers to access technology the AAA publisher previously owned. Even better, this decision also means players who experience photosensitive seizures or need help with speech when gaming now have unfettered access to these patents as well.
Accessibility features in gaming have gained steam in recent years as developers and software engineers work to ensure players with disabilities can access their games. In 2021, EA pledged to loosen restrictions on its patents, especially patents regarding hardware or software that’s meant to improve a player’s quality of life. Now, the 2021 pledge has been updated to announce the two patents that have been made available for free.
EA says that the ultimate goal of its speech-based patent is to “make it possible for those players’ speech to be more effectively recognized and reflected in-game in a way that is representative of their age, emotion, language, and speaking style.” The second patent is an Unreal Engine 5 plugin called IRIS. IRIS automatically alerts developers to moments in their games that may trigger seizures in individuals with photosensitive epilepsy.
“The sooner you start testing, the sooner you find potential issues,” IRIS engineer Blanca Macazaga Zuaz said of the patented tech.
EA is far from the only corporation to lean in to accessibility features, but its decision to provide the public free access to the aforementioned patents is certainly an encouraging sign.