Arkane Studios' Deathloop has received a lot of praise since its launch. However, its lack of accessibility options has become an important, and disappointing factor for a number of players.

The issue of accessibility was raised in a thread of tweets created by user @CyclopediaBrain, which discussed further some of the issues experienced by players in Deathloop – cursor-based menus, a lack of button remapping, small text sizes, hard-to-read fonts, and an inability to customise UI indicators were all mentioned. The thread also highlighted some of the possible changes that Arkane could make to the game to make it easier to access for a number of its players.

And the last important menu bit: there is no remapping or control scheme options. Just the ability to view the one scheme. pic.twitter.com/op24fB8tZW

— Courtney Craven (@CyclopediaBrain) September 14, 2021

Accessibility advocate and YouTube reviewer Steve Saylor added to the argument around Deathloop's level of accessibility by mentioning not just its lack of customisability, but its gameplay design. In an accessibility review, Saylor spoke about how he believes that a lack of accessibility is more deep-rooted within Deathloop.

After praising Arkane's customary level design and ingenuity, Saylor say, "The problem with the design of this is that this game forces you and relies on your ability to play first-person shooters. Now when I say that, I mean specifically that you have to have a specific skill level for first-person shooters in order to be able to make this game fun and enjoyable otherwise it's a struggle to get through it."

The primary issue for Saylor is the harsh penalties for failure in the game, primarily the 3-life limit players are given before having to restart their current loop having made no progress. For those who have difficulty controlling the game, it adds a barrier to progress that many games don't have. Saylor compares Deathloop to other FPS games, and their contrasting approach to failure: "I play Destiny all the time. I play Halo all the time. I love those games, but those games allow me to make mistakes and respawn without feeling like I'm losing anything along the way."

"So do I hope that this game is going to be accessible in the future? No, I don't." Saylor summarises. "Because the problems I have can't be fixed in a patch, can't be fixed in an update [...] I desperately want to roll credits on this. It is fun, and I feel like I'm missing out. I feel like I'm really missing out on an amazing experience that everyone loves, but I can't play it. I can't enjoy that same experience – I and many other disabled players won't be able to play this game."

A number of other disabled gamers have shared similar thoughts to Saylor across their own social channels. As a motor-challenged person, YouTuber Dynamic Reactions argues that Deathloop's aim assist options do little to help counter the difficulties presented for some members of the community when playing first-person shooters. Although the game has a number of auto-aim options, Dynamic Reactions argues that these don't necessarily work as well as they should.

"The snapping only really worked if the enemy got real super close-up on you and by then you're already halfway dead," says Dynamic Reactions. "There were multiple times that I wanted to stealth and use my silencer gun and be happy-go-lucky and I could not get those perfect shots that I needed."

Meanwhile, Steve Spohn, the Chief Operations Officer and Community Outreach Director for the charity AbleGamers said that it only took him twelve minutes to figure out that he couldn't play Deathloop as a disabled gamer. Spohn's charity acts as a non-profit organization that promotes accessibility and inclusive communities for disabled gamers throughout the games industry. Once he'd discovered that the game didn't live up to expectations in terms of accessibility, Spohn said that he'd tweeted about his experience as a warning for other players who face similar challenges to him.

Well @ArkaneStudios it took me exactly 12 minutes to figure out I can't play @deathloop as a disabled gamer

-On-screen keyboards do not work
-Ignores input from voice recognition
-Mouse sensitivity CAPPED at 1

Putting this out to warn others with challenges like mine. Refunded

— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) September 18, 2021

Whether or not Arkane will look to patch some of the easier-to-fix issues faced by players in Deathloop remains to be seen. However, it certainly seems that for a number of players within the community, Deathloop may never feel truly accessible.

Accessibility in games has made good strides in recent years, with The Last of Us Part 2 setting a new gold standard and Xbox Series X becoming much more accessible in and of itself. EA recently released five of its accessibility patents freely, allowing developers to use them in their own games. While Deathloop was mostly developed before Arkane became an Xbox studio, the developer now has access to Microsoft's in-house accessibility feedback panel, which will hopefully help future games.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Arkane Studios' Deathloop has received a lot of praise since its launch. However, its lack of accessibility options has become an important, and disappointing factor for a number of players.

The issue of accessibility was raised in a thread of tweets created by user @CyclopediaBrain, which discussed further some of the issues experienced by players in Deathloop – cursor-based menus, a lack of button remapping, small text sizes, hard-to-read fonts, and an inability to customise UI indicators were all mentioned. The thread also highlighted some of the possible changes that Arkane could make to the game to make it easier to access for a number of its players.

And the last important menu bit: there is no remapping or control scheme options. Just the ability to view the one scheme. pic.twitter.com/op24fB8tZW

— Courtney Craven (@CyclopediaBrain) September 14, 2021

Accessibility advocate and YouTube reviewer Steve Saylor added to the argument around Deathloop's level of accessibility by mentioning not just its lack of customisability, but its gameplay design. In an accessibility review, Saylor spoke about how he believes that a lack of accessibility is more deep-rooted within Deathloop.

After praising Arkane's customary level design and ingenuity, Saylor say, "The problem with the design of this is that this game forces you and relies on your ability to play first-person shooters. Now when I say that, I mean specifically that you have to have a specific skill level for first-person shooters in order to be able to make this game fun and enjoyable otherwise it's a struggle to get through it."

The primary issue for Saylor is the harsh penalties for failure in the game, primarily the 3-life limit players are given before having to restart their current loop having made no progress. For those who have difficulty controlling the game, it adds a barrier to progress that many games don't have. Saylor compares Deathloop to other FPS games, and their contrasting approach to failure: "I play Destiny all the time. I play Halo all the time. I love those games, but those games allow me to make mistakes and respawn without feeling like I'm losing anything along the way."

"So do I hope that this game is going to be accessible in the future? No, I don't." Saylor summarises. "Because the problems I have can't be fixed in a patch, can't be fixed in an update [...] I desperately want to roll credits on this. It is fun, and I feel like I'm missing out. I feel like I'm really missing out on an amazing experience that everyone loves, but I can't play it. I can't enjoy that same experience – I and many other disabled players won't be able to play this game."

A number of other disabled gamers have shared similar thoughts to Saylor across their own social channels. As a motor-challenged person, YouTuber Dynamic Reactions argues that Deathloop's aim assist options do little to help counter the difficulties presented for some members of the community when playing first-person shooters. Although the game has a number of auto-aim options, Dynamic Reactions argues that these don't necessarily work as well as they should.

"The snapping only really worked if the enemy got real super close-up on you and by then you're already halfway dead," says Dynamic Reactions. "There were multiple times that I wanted to stealth and use my silencer gun and be happy-go-lucky and I could not get those perfect shots that I needed."

Meanwhile, Steve Spohn, the Chief Operations Officer and Community Outreach Director for the charity AbleGamers said that it only took him twelve minutes to figure out that he couldn't play Deathloop as a disabled gamer. Spohn's charity acts as a non-profit organization that promotes accessibility and inclusive communities for disabled gamers throughout the games industry. Once he'd discovered that the game didn't live up to expectations in terms of accessibility, Spohn said that he'd tweeted about his experience as a warning for other players who face similar challenges to him.

Well @ArkaneStudios it took me exactly 12 minutes to figure out I can't play @deathloop as a disabled gamer

-On-screen keyboards do not work
-Ignores input from voice recognition
-Mouse sensitivity CAPPED at 1

Putting this out to warn others with challenges like mine. Refunded

— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) September 18, 2021

Whether or not Arkane will look to patch some of the easier-to-fix issues faced by players in Deathloop remains to be seen. However, it certainly seems that for a number of players within the community, Deathloop may never feel truly accessible.

Accessibility in games has made good strides in recent years, with The Last of Us Part 2 setting a new gold standard and Xbox Series X becoming much more accessible in and of itself. EA recently released five of its accessibility patents freely, allowing developers to use them in their own games. While Deathloop was mostly developed before Arkane became an Xbox studio, the developer now has access to Microsoft's in-house accessibility feedback panel, which will hopefully help future games.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Amazon's Wheel of Time has recast one of its lead roles for the show's second season.

According to Deadline, Barney Harris, who is portraying Mat Cauthon in the first season of The Wheel of Time, will not be returning to his role for the show's second season. The reasons for Harris' departure are presently unclear, though a replacement is already being lined up, with The Witcher actor Dónal Finn reportedly tapped to take over the role.

Cauthon is one of five young heroes who will be travelling with Rosamund Pike's Moiraine on a "dangerous, world-spanning journey" in season one, which is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video this November. He'll be joined by Egwene Al'Vere (Madeleine Madden), Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), and Rand Al'Thor (Josha Stradowski).

Although the first season hasn't premiered yet, Amazon ordered a second season of The Wheel of Time earlier this year. The early season renewal coincided with the first season wrapping production. Both seasons, co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television, will be available to stream in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

The first three episodes of the upcoming series, which is based on Robert Jordan's much-loved fantasy novels, will arrive on Amazon Prime Video on November 19, with a new episode dropping every Friday from thereon in, leading right the way up to the season finale on December 24. The first season has eight episodes in total, the same as the second season.

Amazon's The Wheel of Time follows a character called Moiraine, a member of the Aes Sedai, a powerful all-female organization of magic users, as she takes a group of five young people on a journey around the world, believing one of the five might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful individual prophesied to save the world or destroy it.

Want to know more? Here's a guide to everything you need to know about The Wheel of Time.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Amazon's Wheel of Time has recast one of its lead roles for the show's second season.

According to Deadline, Barney Harris, who is portraying Mat Cauthon in the first season of The Wheel of Time, will not be returning to his role for the show's second season. The reasons for Harris' departure are presently unclear, though a replacement is already being lined up, with The Witcher actor Dónal Finn reportedly tapped to take over the role.

Cauthon is one of five young heroes who will be travelling with Rosamund Pike's Moiraine on a "dangerous, world-spanning journey" in season one, which is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video this November. He'll be joined by Egwene Al'Vere (Madeleine Madden), Perrin Aybara (Marcus Rutherford), Nynaeve (Zoë Robins), and Rand Al'Thor (Josha Stradowski).

Although the first season hasn't premiered yet, Amazon ordered a second season of The Wheel of Time earlier this year. The early season renewal coincided with the first season wrapping production. Both seasons, co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television, will be available to stream in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

The first three episodes of the upcoming series, which is based on Robert Jordan's much-loved fantasy novels, will arrive on Amazon Prime Video on November 19, with a new episode dropping every Friday from thereon in, leading right the way up to the season finale on December 24. The first season has eight episodes in total, the same as the second season.

Amazon's The Wheel of Time follows a character called Moiraine, a member of the Aes Sedai, a powerful all-female organization of magic users, as she takes a group of five young people on a journey around the world, believing one of the five might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful individual prophesied to save the world or destroy it.

Want to know more? Here's a guide to everything you need to know about The Wheel of Time.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Epic Games is no stranger to a Battle Royale-based collaboration, but prices for its latest clothing line deal with luxury fashion brand Balenciaga are likely to make even diehard Fortnite fans' eyes water.

The Fortnite x Balenciaga collaboration features a number of in-game cosmetics that fans can purchase from within the item shop. However, it's the price of Balenciaga's IRL clothing range that is sure to make heads turn. Take the hoodie worn in the Shady Doggo skin pictured below - that's the anthropomorphic dog dressed in white if you're less familiar with the game. As well as being able to purchase the skin in-game, fans can buy a physical version of the same hoodie from the Balenciaga store... so long as they have a mere $725 to spare.

It doesn't stop there though, the Balenciaga store is has a variety of Fortnite-branded products that you could remortgage your house to own. Weighing in on the lighter side of the range, fans can purchase a Fortnite branded Balenciaga hat for $395 dollars while fans really looking to spend top dollar on their merch can pick up a Fortnite branded denim jacket for $1290.

Luckily for some, the Balenciaga x Fortnite collaboration is far cheaper on the digital side of things. Between September 21 and September 28, fans will be able to unlock two free collaboration-based sprays in-game for completing challenges set by Shady Doggo. In addition, a number of Balenciaga based items and four unique collaboration-themed skins (Unchained Ramirez, Shady Doggo, Fashion Banshee and Game Knight) will be available for purchase in the Item Shop.

In other Fortnite collaboration news, Epic recently announced that Carnage would be the latest Marvel character to enter the Island. Joining as a part of the game's monster-filled eighth season, the famed Spider-Man foe and Venom 2 villain is currently unlockable through the game's Battle Pass.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Epic Games is no stranger to a Battle Royale-based collaboration, but prices for its latest clothing line deal with luxury fashion brand Balenciaga are likely to make even diehard Fortnite fans' eyes water.

The Fortnite x Balenciaga collaboration features a number of in-game cosmetics that fans can purchase from within the item shop. However, it's the price of Balenciaga's IRL clothing range that is sure to make heads turn. Take the hoodie worn in the Shady Doggo skin pictured below - that's the anthropomorphic dog dressed in white if you're less familiar with the game. As well as being able to purchase the skin in-game, fans can buy a physical version of the same hoodie from the Balenciaga store... so long as they have a mere $725 to spare.

It doesn't stop there though, the Balenciaga store is has a variety of Fortnite-branded products that you could remortgage your house to own. Weighing in on the lighter side of the range, fans can purchase a Fortnite branded Balenciaga hat for $395 dollars while fans really looking to spend top dollar on their merch can pick up a Fortnite branded denim jacket for $1290.

Luckily for some, the Balenciaga x Fortnite collaboration is far cheaper on the digital side of things. Between September 21 and September 28, fans will be able to unlock two free collaboration-based sprays in-game for completing challenges set by Shady Doggo. In addition, a number of Balenciaga based items and four unique collaboration-themed skins (Unchained Ramirez, Shady Doggo, Fashion Banshee and Game Knight) will be available for purchase in the Item Shop.

In other Fortnite collaboration news, Epic recently announced that Carnage would be the latest Marvel character to enter the Island. Joining as a part of the game's monster-filled eighth season, the famed Spider-Man foe and Venom 2 villain is currently unlockable through the game's Battle Pass.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Halo: Infinite will hold two more multiplayer tech previews with the first one starting this weekend. The latest Inside Infinite has been published on the Halo website with details on the upcoming tests.

A Halo: Infinite test will take place at select times from Thursday, September 23 to Sunday, September 26. This beta will only be open to Halo Insiders who registered before September 13. Emails will be sent out to players to know if they are eligible.

The second test takes place at select times from Thursday, September 30 to Sunday, October 3 and will be open to more players than the first test. More specific details on who is eligible for the second weekend test are promised by next week. A Halo: Infinite livestream with more beta test details is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22 on the Halo Twitch and YouTube channels. A new look at the 12v12 Big Team Battle mode will also be shown off.

The tests will not be open for multiplayer during the entirety of the scheduled days. Players will only have access to multiplayer from 10 a.m. PST to 2 p.m. PST and 5 p.m. PST to 9 p.m. PST on Friday through Sunday during both weekends. Training Mode, Weapon Drills, Battle Pass, and Customization are the only modes available from Thursday throughout the whole weekend.

"[The Halo: Infinite tests'] matchmaking will only be up for a set amount of time each day in order to help us test our servers against the highest concurrency possible," the blog post reads. "While this does mean shorter time for players to go hands on, it’s critical to our primary goal of ensuring that our online services are ready for launch."

On Friday, September 24 at 10 a.m. PST, the 4v4 Arena mode will be available. The second beta test will include the 4v4 Arena mode and the 12v12 Big Team Battle mode.

It's possible we will get more Halo: Infinite details at the Xbox presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2021. If you're excited for Halo and looking for games to hold you over on Xbox then check out Xbox Games with Gold for September 2021.

Halo: Infinite is currently set for a December 8 release.

Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

Halo: Infinite will hold two more multiplayer tech previews with the first one starting this weekend. The latest Inside Infinite has been published on the Halo website with details on the upcoming tests.

A Halo: Infinite test will take place at select times from Thursday, September 23 to Sunday, September 26. This beta will only be open to Halo Insiders who registered before September 13. Emails will be sent out to players to know if they are eligible.

The second test takes place at select times from Thursday, September 30 to Sunday, October 3 and will be open to more players than the first test. More specific details on who is eligible for the second weekend test are promised by next week. A Halo: Infinite livestream with more beta test details is scheduled for Wednesday, September 22 on the Halo Twitch and YouTube channels. A new look at the 12v12 Big Team Battle mode will also be shown off.

The tests will not be open for multiplayer during the entirety of the scheduled days. Players will only have access to multiplayer from 10 a.m. PST to 2 p.m. PST and 5 p.m. PST to 9 p.m. PST on Friday through Sunday during both weekends. Training Mode, Weapon Drills, Battle Pass, and Customization are the only modes available from Thursday throughout the whole weekend.

"[The Halo: Infinite tests'] matchmaking will only be up for a set amount of time each day in order to help us test our servers against the highest concurrency possible," the blog post reads. "While this does mean shorter time for players to go hands on, it’s critical to our primary goal of ensuring that our online services are ready for launch."

On Friday, September 24 at 10 a.m. PST, the 4v4 Arena mode will be available. The second beta test will include the 4v4 Arena mode and the 12v12 Big Team Battle mode.

It's possible we will get more Halo: Infinite details at the Xbox presentation at Tokyo Game Show 2021. If you're excited for Halo and looking for games to hold you over on Xbox then check out Xbox Games with Gold for September 2021.

Halo: Infinite is currently set for a December 8 release.

Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.