Xbox One Wheelchair Avatars: Microsoft Introduces New Option for Players; Details and How It Emphasizes Diversity and Inclusion
Xbox avatars will soon have a wheelchair option, Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed.
In a Twitter post, Spencer, together with platform boss Mike Ybarra, announced on Monday that there will be a new addition to the Xbox One avatar which significantly explained their aim of making it more inclusive to gamers.
The news was confirmed when Spencer tweeted to two Twitter users saying, "No petition needed, we hear you. This is something we've already looked at, not far off," in response to the discussion of the two regarding a plan to make a petition for a wheelchair option.
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A sneak peek photo of two avatars seated on a wheelchair was posted by Ybarra and was reposted by Spencer on the same social media site.
There is a noticeable change in the graphic design of the new avatars, and fans have started questioning about a new significant upgrade of the Xbox.
Avatars were introduced in 2008 on Xbox 360 as a new feature of the New Xbox Experience system update. These were originally developed by Kinect Sports Studio Rare. Users were able to customize their face and even their clothing. The avatar follows the player wherever he/she logs on, and that makes the avatar the actual player in the virtual world. Since then, avatars have become a popular trend in the gaming industry. They also became prominent in the Windows 10 Xbox App.
Since avatars have become important visual representations to gamers, it is somehow important that users must have at least a mirror of their own unique traits. And wheelchairs are a significant part of improvement.
Many users have complimented the company's commitment to inclusion and embracing diversity. It is also very significant that technology is now helping in uniting every culture around the world (including Facebook which recently released an option where you can change your emoji's skin tone color). It is also believed that the inclusion of an avatar option is a positive move on the part of Microsoft in contributing to the improvement of the gamer representation on the Xbox platform.
With the sneak peek of the two avatars on wheelchairs, users are already proposing for a second-generation avatar to replace the upcoming icon "with a light titanium chair instead of the clunky hospital kind."
While the availability of the updated avatar is not yet stated by the developers, the next Xbox Live update entitled Anniversary is expected to come by August.
