The debate over 'Overwatch' controller options misses one very important point
UPDATE: Feb. 7, 2017, 2:11 p.m. EST Blizzard Entertainment and the Overwatch team responded to our request for comment, but did not include any thoughts on accessibility.
Overwatch's development team is calling for action from console manufacturers: either ban mice keyboards and input conversion devices on consoles, or expand support for them. But while banning alternative input devices can level the playing field, it could also shut out a whole demographic -- gamers with disabilities.
Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan posted on the Overwatch forums Thursday encouraging players to reach out to Sony and Microsoft to express their concerns about banning or supporting alternative input devices. This would change controller options for the console versions of Overwatch and leave the PC version as it is.
He started the post by saying, "The Overwatch team objects to the use of mouse an keyboard on console," making it pretty clear which way the developers are leaning.
In an email statement, the Overwatch team elaborated on this post.
"Our stance on console keyboard-and-mouse setups in Overwatch comes from a desire to provide as even a playing field as possible," the team said. "Ideally, we want Overwatch players to know exactly what they’re up against when they sit down for a match -- but right now, console players have no way of knowing whether they’re competing against someone with a keyboard-and-mouse setup or a controller."
Steven Spohn, COO of the AbleGamers Charity, took issue with Blizzard's all-or-nothing take on input options. He tweeted Monday that he uses an alternative input device, something he and other gamers with disabilities need in order to play Overwatch on their desired platform or the platform their friends play on.
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Many people in the Overwatch community are only looking at this issue as stopping players from using a mouse and keyboard as an advantage over others. In an interview, Spohn spoke to how a ban on these devices could affect gamers with disabilities.
"It's not only mouse and keyboard," he said. "All assistive technology devices are considered alternative input devices or input conversion technology. In order to ban one of them, you would have to ban almost all of them."
He's still aware, of course, that using a mouse in place of a joystick to aim could give someone an advantage.
"Using a mouse and keyboard is a more precise way to aim," Spohn said. "However, times are changing. PlayStation is beginning to sell peripherals. Xbox is implementing multiplatform cross play. The line between consoles and PC gaming are beginning to blur."
PlayStation has something called the TAC Pro, which is essentially a mouse and the essential parts of a keyboard intended to mimic PC controls on the PlayStation 3 and 4.
In the Overwatch team's email statement, the developers mention that they have no way to detect or prevent these alternative devices.
"On PS4, we could enable mouse and keyboard and match those players in a pool with other mouse and keyboard players, but we still wouldn’t be able to detect players using conversion devices," the team said. "As a result, mouse-and-keyboard players would still end up competing against players using controllers."
Blizzard recognizes the difference between playing with a mouse versus playing with a controller. The console and PC versions of Overwatch differ slightly from each other to compensate for the advantage that mice can give players.
In a patch from July 2016, two Overwatch heroes who place stationary turrets that automatically attack enemies were nerfed. Both Torbjörn and Symmetra had their turret damage reduced by 30 percent, only on consoles, balancing the heroes out to match the reduced accuracy that controller users experience compared to mouse users.
There's a clear advantage to using a mouse over a controller, but should maintaining that balance be a higher priority than ensuring that everyone is able to play the game?
"While I can see some people objecting to those who would choose to use a mouse, it opens the door to an otherwise inaccessible virtual world for others," Spohn said.
He said the more options there are to play games, the better.
"AbleGamers has a saying, 'Options are the key,'" Spohn said. "We came up with that because every time I talk to developers, we always preach adding options, never limiting... Asking console manufacturers to allow everyone to use a mouse and keyboard without needing input diversion devices would be an amazing accessibility boon."
Making games accessible is certainly important and Overwatch has done some positive things, such as allowing a player with Cerebral Palsy to customize the controls enough to snipe somebody for the first time in his life.
But there are still steps to take to make the popular game more accessible for gamers with disabilities.
"They do a lot of things right and a couple things wrong," Spohn said. "Even after we've told them there are some problems for deaf gamers, they still haven't added visual cues for the ultimate abilities of characters that have audio cues. For example, Hanzo when releasing the Dragon."
Spohn said Kaplan's statement about either banning or supporting the use of alternative input devices is too polarizing and is a textbook example of how Overwatch looks at accessibility.
"He wants the technology banned or given to everyone," he said. "The truth about accessibility is that there is a lot of gray areas. It doesn't have to be all or nothing."
Kaplan called for players to reach out to Microsoft and Sony about alternative input devices in a constructive manner and Spohn agrees.
"I do think it's important people speak out and reassure the manufacturers that there are two sides to the story," he said.
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Although Blizzard Entertainment and the Overwatch team responded to our request for comment, they did not include any thoughts on accessibility for console players.
Topics Blizzard Entertainment Esports Gaming
