Xbox Releases Gaming for Everyone Product Inclusion Framework

At GDC 2024, Microsoft releases the Gaming for Everyone Product Inclusion Framework for all game developers. Xbox has been using this framework since 2019. It provides a set of resources to help game developers weave intentionality and inclusion into their products.

The Gaming for Everyone Product Inclusion Framework, previously only used internally, has been released by Microsoft to interested developers. The framework is "a set of actionable resources meant to help game developers - and the wider games industry - weave intentionality and inclusion into the products they make, in order to reach a broader set of players worldwide in a meaningful way," the company said. By making the framework publicly available in multiple languages, including German, Microsoft hopes to enable more game developers to build intentionality and inclusion into their products worldwide. The Product Inclusion website can be accessed here.

Approachability, representation, globalisation and accessibility are the four key areas of the framework. The four terms are defined by Microsoft as follows: - "Approachability, which ensures all players, existing and new, experienced and novice, feel safe and welcome. - Representation is about reflecting the diversity of the player and creator community, so everyone can feel that they belong. - Globalization is about making global players feel at home - and ensuring that their experience has local relevance and respect. - Accessibility is about making games and experiences playable for people with disabilities, and striving to make products accessible by design, from the ground up."

Microsoft: "It is important to note that the Product Inclusion Framework is not meant to be a checklist or any sort of mandate of what makes an “inclusive game.” Rather, the resources and tools within the framework are designed to be a guide for developers, to help enable them to make an intentional decision to either open or leave a door closed, based on the game experience they’re trying to create. The goal of bringing this level of intentionality into games is to expand player reach and deepen player engagement in a meaningful way. That is going to look different based on different gaming experiences, so this framework was designed with that flexibility in mind."