Ahead of their appearance on ID@Xbox Games stream, developer Falling Squirrel released a new dev diary video for their latest game, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown. The game’s main premise is that you’re essentially taking on the role of a visually impaired person and playing as if you’re them.
It’s a truly impressive game because of the fact that there is so much to it. There are battles to fight in and markets to navigate through just to name a couple. The team’s aim is to break down barriers for blind and low-vision players that are oftentimes left behind when it comes to accessibility in mainstream games.
The team at Falling Squirrel worked hand-in-hand with the CNIB organization in order for them to assist in input for how to approach the game correctly. It also helped that through assistive technologies and input from hundreds of visually impaired community members as well that they could ensure that the needs were met and in the right way.
Creative Consultant, Martin Courcelles
The Vale also features proper representation from the community in its voice actors and developers. This includes actors and creative consultants that are core to their community, such as Martin Courcelles (pictured above) and Ramay Amuthan (pictured in cover photo).
I’ve always been a vocal advocate for accessibility in gaming, and it brings so much joy to my heart to be able to see this title garner so much attention. This gives me high hopes that we’ll see more games like this created for different communities and that they’ll prosper.
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown will be available for Windows PC via Steam and itch.io, and Xbox One on August 19, 2021. The game will also be available on the Epic Games store shortly after.
