Disabled players aren’t often represented in video games, especially multiplayer online ones that feature nothing but hearty and hale athletes leaping and running through virtual worlds. So even a gesture acknowledging that there are players like this is significant in its own way.
Bethesda provided that gesture this week by adding wheelchairs as an option for player CAMPs (previously, wheelchairs existed in the game world but weren’t housing objects). And while you can’t ride the wheelchair, its inclusion matters a lot to a player named Kelly who petitioned the studio a little while ago with a post that got noticed by a community manager.
“I’m disabled IRL and I would really REALLY love a wheelchair I can place in my C.A.M.P.,” she wrote a month ago. “It would make me so happy to have that little piece of me in my creations. And I think a lot of other people would enjoy it too.”
Following this week’s patch, Kelly thanked both the studio and community for their support: “Without the boost of love reddit gave me when I boosted this, this would’ve never happened. Thank you, THANK YOU!! from the bottom of my heart, I can not explain how much this means.”
