Video games have always been a place for all kinds of people to come together and play, but it hasn’t always been the most welcoming to those with disabilities. In the past few years however, great strides have been made by charities such as AbleGamers and companies like Microsoft with the release of its Xbox Adaptive Controller to make gaming a truly more inclusive space. This has led to such wonderful moments as a congenital amputee going viral on Reddit for sharing his custom setup to play Valorant.
The rise of social media is what has led to increased awareness regarding issues of accessibility in games. Social media is what has helped people like Steve Saylor, a blind gamer and editor for the website CanIPlayThat.com, consult on video games like The Last of Us Part 2, and then allowed him to share his beautiful reaction to his and Naughty Dog’s accomplishments. And now a Redditor from Prune, India by the name of BionicGamer323 (Tanmay in real life) has shared his gaming setup that has allowed him to make it all the way to Silver 1 in Valorant.
Tanmay’s setup is a keyboard which he has programmed multiple keybinds to for his arm and a Logitech G402 mouse which has enough buttons that he can program to use all of his hero’s abilities for his hand. Tanmay says that his congenitally amputated arm has enough muscle memory at this point that he is able to reliably hit the keys he needs to hit on the keyboard.
Hi! I’m a congenital amputee and this is how I play Valorant on PC with one arm and a stump! More details in the comments :) from VALORANT
Some of the comments asked Tanmay if he has tried the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which has allowed people to play even non-Xbox game’s like Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Tanmay says he has tried it, but that he is too accustomed to his personal setup to switch. He also discusses the possibility of adding foot pedals to his setup, and how helpful Logitech’s multi-button mouses have been.
When it comes to meaningful change, increased awareness that posts like Tanmay’s brings with 15,000 upvotes is everything. The more publishers like Microsoft and Ubisoft, which recently unveiled the great accessibility options Watch Dogs: Legion will have, the better and more welcoming the world of gaming will become.
If you would like to donate to help Tanmay afford his prosthetic arm, you can do so here.
Valorant is available on PC.