The AbleGamers Foundation Awards the 2011 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award. May the Force Be with You.

Star Wars: the Old Republic earns the annual award for extreme accessibility in any mainstream game for BioWare and LucasArts.

Harpers Ferry, WV - January 20, 2012 - The AbleGamers Foundation is proud to announce BioWare’s Star Wars: the Old Republic is the winner of this year's Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year award.  Each year, the AbleGamers Foundation looks at all of the mainstream video game titles released in a given year for the best use of accessibility in a game. Recipients must demonstrate excellence in accessibility by including options that allow for gamers with a wide range of disabilities to fully enjoy the game.

Many of the larger releases cut accessibility or place it on the list of things to be patched in later on down the road, but SWTOR took the time to add things like colorblind friendly options, full subtitles, and control options to let those with mobility impairments play the game as easy as possible.

“It's very rare to see a game of this caliber initially released with so many accessibility options,” said Mark Barlet, president of the AbleGamers Foundation. “BioWare did a wonderful job including a large number of options right at launch with the promise of including more as soon as possible.”

“We were absolutely inundated with requests to review Star Wars: the Old Republic before the game was even released,” said Steven Spohn, editor-in-chief of ablegamers.com. “Thousands of gamers regardless of their disability wanted to know if they would be able to play this highly anticipated game. Fortunately, we were able to report the majority of disabled gamers will be able to play SWTOR.”

Vew the story on AbleGamers.com, the AbleGamers Foundations community site for Disabled Gamers.