Forza Motorsport showcases innovative ‘Blind Driving Assists’ accessibility feature

The Forza Motorsport Blind Driving Assists feature will make the upcoming racing game the most accessible installment in the series so far. These new in-game mechanics will enable visually impaired players to compete in races through the use of various sound cues that’ll indicate their positioning on the track.

Now that the Forza Motorsport release date is steadily nearing the finish line, these sneak peeks into the game’s development process makes its launch all the more exciting for series fans. Additionally, the accessibility features that are being introduced will only help its audience grow even more as it continues to reach different types of gamers worldwide.

Based on the Forza Motorsport Blind Driving Assists preview video released by Xbox, developer Turn 10 Studios integrated this mechanic into the game with the help of Brandon Cole, a professional accessibility consultant. In the clip, Cole noted that they had to design it for people that were never able to play a racing game before and Blind Driving Assists can help them do just that.

The trailer went on to show a few scenes of Cole testing out a variety of different features that allowed him to stay on the track during a practice run. Though the mechanics weren’t specifically shown, the auditory cues that could be heard helped him follow the right racing line all throughout, which resulted in a proper finish towards the end.

When it first happened, Cole apparently remembered “being baffled at first” because he wasn’t going off track. “To get to a point where you’re not crashing all the time, it felt like the gap had been bridged,” he continued. Hopefully, Turn 10 Studios’ devotion in bringing their accessibility features to another level will inspire other developers to do the same both now and in the future.