Bungie Tackles Inclusivity and Accessibility

Seeking to avoid the missteps that other game developers have made, Destiny 2 developer Bungie has been taking proactive steps toward fostering a more inclusive company and player community. Today's blog article from CEO Pete Parsons described several Diversity & Inclusion initiatives Bungie has taken to "equip our people with the tools and teams they can trust to support them as they craft worlds and stories that inspire millions of people."

While acknowledging that D&I work is never "complete," the moves that Parsons highlighted include having 50% of Bungie's board of directors be members of underrepresented communities, as well as four of nine members of the executive teams being women or from URCs; hiring a Chief People Officer and D&I director; the end of the mandatory arbitration clause in employee agreements; a review of potentially biased language; and a third-party, anonymous reporting tool.

A separate blog piece from Bungie detailed the company's increased focus on accessibility, which has spawned a new Inclusion Club, Accessibility at Bungie. This new initiative will "make everyone feel welcome in our games and at our company" while stressing "that everyone should be able to participate in our games regardless of their ability or if they identify as having a disability."

No, that doesn't mean that top-end raid loot will be handed out for killing five random Vex. Instead, the idea is to make the game easier to play for people like Destiny 2 Senior Designer Robert Schuster. His issue is that "fast firing non-automatic weapons like Scout Rifles and Hand Cannons cause me hand pain during longer sessions." He brought it up with fellow designer Chris Proctor, who "had already been considering" making an auto-fire option for such weapons to ease up on the pain that Schuster, and likely others, have experienced.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and Bungie will be offering a Disability Awareness pin, the proceeds of which will go to the AbleGamers charity. The pin will be called "Everyone Can Play" and will be offered in the Bungie store starting on the 1st of the month.