Ubisoft Makes Colorblind Simulation Tool Available to All Developers

Ubisoft has recently opened access to Chroma, their in-house tool designed to help game developers make their games more accessible to people with colorblindness. This specialized software, which the company has been using internally since 2021, is now freely available on GitHub for any developer to download and use.

Chroma works by applying a filter over game screens that simulates various types of color blindness, including Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia. This real-time simulation helps developers identify and fix accessibility issues before releasing their games to the public. According to Ubisoft, the tool can work on single or dual screens without affecting game performance.

"Over the past few years, Chroma has proven to be a highly efficient tool for us at Ubisoft," said David Tisserand, Director of Accessibility at Ubisoft. "It has allowed us to assess the accessibility of our games for colorblind players much faster and more comprehensively than ever before."

According to reports, around 300 million people worldwide are affected by some form of colorblindness, making this an important accessibility consideration for game developers.

The GitHub page for Chroma highlights several key benefits of the tool. It works on all games regardless of the game engine, can simulate gameplay at up to 60 frames per second, provides accurate results, and offers an easy-to-use interface with configurable options. Users can also easily take screenshots to document accessibility issues.

Ubisoft isn't the only company focusing on gaming accessibility. Electronic Arts (EA) has also made several accessibility patents open-source, including technology for photosensitivity and speech recognition. Earlier this year, major gaming companies including Xbox, EA, Google, Nintendo of America, and Ubisoft joined forces to form the Accessible Games Initiative.

For developers interested in using Chroma, the tool is now available at: https://github.com/ubisoft/UbiChroma.