Forza Horizon 5 sign language support brings American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) to the popular racing game in an update launching tomorrow, Microsoft announced.
Following its surprising reveal last summer, Forza Horizon 5 has been happily chugging along, releasing new content such as the iconic DeLorean and fixes for the usual post-launch issues that most major games have. Now, a new update is coming tomorrow with a focus on accessibility.
How Forza Horizon 5 Sign Language Support Works (And Why It Matters)
As highlighted on ResetEra, Forza Horizon 5 sign language support will arrive in an update launching tomorrow, March 1, 2022. This feature will support both ASL (American Sign Language( and BSL (British Sign Language).
One might wonder -- why is ASL and BSL being added to the game when it already has subtitle support? While both languages have a lot of similarities with their spoken and written versions, they are essentially a language unto themselves.
"Individuals who sign have a language. It's not just like a manual form of whatever spoken language happens to be in your area," explained Michael Anthony, a member of Microsoft's Gaming and Disability Steering Committee. "And it had its own syntax. It has its own structure. It has its own idioms. And if you look at that from that perspective, if the world itself was inclusive and accessible to everyone, we would still have a language."
"There's a bunch of common misconceptions about sign language," said Microsoft's Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie. "It is not just [the gestures made with your hands and arms]. It is the face. It is the position. It is how you move your body in time and space. Deafness varies from hard of hearing to people who are deaf and use sign language as their first language."
"I think it's important for us to be inclusive of the entirety of that spectrum."
The Forza Horizon 5 sign language update will debut over 300 cinematics for ASL and BSL on March 1, 2022. If you haven't yet jumped into the game, you can buy Forza Horizon 5 for PC and Xbox starting at $59.99 or your regional equivalent.
