“Gaming gave me my life back”: why accessible video video games are remodeling disabled gamers’ lives

March twenty fourth, 2026 – Speaking on the most recent episode of the Good Game Club podcast, SpecialImpact founder and CEO Dr Mick Donegan explains how adaptive controllers, eye-tracking know-how and personalised gaming set-ups are enabling individuals with disabilities to play video games for the primary time.

SpecialEffect are a “catalyst for change,” serving to the worldwide video games trade to embrace accessibility, with corporations equivalent to Xbox and PlayStation introducing adaptive controllers and extra inclusive sport design lately. Now, they’re breaking new floor by main the best way on making iOS and Android video games extra accessible with their cellular variations of their free to play ‘Eye Gaze Games’. “I like to think that we’re just part of this general move to be as inclusive as possible,” says Donegan.

For many gamers supported by SpecialImpact, entry to gaming means way over leisure. It restores independence, connection and the power to take part in shared experiences with family and friends. One participant with a progressive situation despatched a message to SpecialImpact after the charity helped him return to taking part in video video games along with his brother: “Dear SpecialEffect, I’ve just beat my brother five-one at FIFA. Thank you for giving me my life back.”

Donegan based SpecialImpact after years working with youngsters with bodily disabilities and discovering that many had been excluded from a significant a part of trendy childhood: taking part in video video games with siblings and associates. “These children were missing out socially,” he says. “They were missing out on the opportunity to learn. They were missing out on the opportunity to face challenges, to solve problems.” SpecialImpact now works with individuals world wide to create personalised gaming set-ups tailor-made to every participant’s talents.

“It’s looking at the person, looking at their abilities and not at their disabilities; it’s not what they can’t do, but what they can do,” Donegan explains.

“This is a global challenge,” says Donegan, whose charity acquired a Special Award on the BAFTA Games Awards in 2024. “There’s over a billion people with disabilities across the planet, and a significant number of those have physical disabilities.”

Good Game Club builds on the success of Jude Ower and Mathias Norvig’s bestselling e-book Gaming for Good, bringing world voices collectively to discover how video games generally is a optimistic power for individuals and the planet. The podcast is supported by a strategic partnership with Tencent – collectively, they share the ambition to focus on the optimistic influence that gameplay can have on people and communities.

The Good Game Club podcast that includes Dr Mick Donegan is launched on March 24. For extra info, please contact [email protected].

Image of Dr Mick Donegan on the podcast.