In e-sport, players with disabilities face "galleys"

• Every Thursday, in its “Off-Pitch” section,

  20 Minutes

  explores new, unexpected, unusual, ingenious or booming spaces for expressing sport.

• This week, we are interested in e-sport, and the place of players with disabilities in this still young field. 

• If they are more and more numerous, a lot remains to be done for their inclusion, in particular on the question of equipment, regulations, and the organization of tournaments.

In recent weeks, a Frenchman has been shining in the North American league of

.

Loïc Dubois, 20 years old and better known as "Toucouille", is a player apart.

First because after being voted best player in the French championship (LFL) last year, he confirmed at the highest level with the FlyQuest team, which occupied an unexpected first place after three weeks of competition.

Then, because he combines all these exploits by suffering from imperfect osteogenesis, a disease better known as that of "glass bones".

“Toucouille” is a rare case in the e-sports ecosystem, where players with disabilities are still few in number.

“E-sport is a welcoming environment, but a lot remains to be done”, summarizes Martin Laffay, gaming project manager at Handicap international.

This is partly why the Battle4 charity event was organized.

This “streaming festival”, organized from March 4 to 6 at the Stade de France for the benefit of the Handicap International and Apart associations, intends to mix sportsmen, disabled sportsmen, gamers, streamers and comedians.

And this in favor of inclusion, especially in e-sport, a field that is still young, but already behind on this theme.

We are proud to officially announce the 1st edition of #Battle4🔥

See you from March 4th to 6th live from @StadeFrance and on @TwitchFR for the benefit of @HI_france and @apartassoc🤝💙

For a weekend full of emotions⚡️!

pic.twitter.com/Y7HXXh3S8T

— Battle 4 (@Battle4Event) February 9, 2022

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On the spot, many difficulties

“E-sport is not inclusive,” says Théo Jordan, president of the Rebird team, created in 2019 and made up of the vast majority of players with disabilities.

“It's an extremely young discipline, at least in Europe.

As a result, it does not yet respond to all the issues that other sports have been able to think of.

“Sometimes very basic issues, as Martin Laffay points out: “Sometimes, in tournaments, it happens that it is impossible for players in wheelchairs to get on the stage”.

"You have to understand that the movement of a person in a wheelchair causes a lot of constraints when you arrive on site: they have to be able to access the toilets, the computers, or the tables are not too low", specifies Theo Jordan, himself a quadriplegic following an accident.

“There are also plenty of things to adapt for people who are deaf or visually impaired.

These elements are somewhat forgotten by the organizers.

We are often called upon to see the changes to be made in advance, but we are still faced with a lot of problems.

»

Less suitable games

Before thinking of getting on the scene of LANs and tournaments, it is still necessary to have the means to be able to compete at a high level.

From the choice of the game, the options are necessarily limited.

Tony Helynck, former professional

player now at the head of the Esports village association, explains: "The games favored by people with disabilities are often those with less "mic", which require quickly press different keys.

Even able-bodied people have difficulty because coordination is more difficult.”

Sports games (like

) or “versus fighting” (

,

, etc.) are therefore more suitable, “because they have a typology that is easier to access and few keys to use,” says Tony Helynck.

"Games can stop at three or four keys, but on

, you can go up to 20 keys," he continues.

Some games considered more difficult nevertheless try to offer more options today, such as

and its "deaf mode", which allows you to view the sound effects in game. But they remain in the minority.

Disability would not be "considered a priority" by Sony

Once the game has been chosen, there remains the other essential accessory: the controller.

However, companies producing suitable controllers are rare, and prices are necessarily affected.

“The equipment is really built according to the needs of the players, explains Théo Jordan.

People with the same disability can play differently, like in the Rebird team, where we have three players who only have one working arm.

»

One of them is called Julien, alias MentonTV.

This

, which has moved away from competition to focus on training young players, uses a so-called "paddle" controller, where some buttons are located on the back.

He directs the joysticks with his face.

"I've been using it for three years.

Before, I did not know of its existence, ”he confesses.

It must be said that those who have looked into the construction of suitable controllers remain few in number.

In France, Hitclic, affiliated with the Handigamers association, is the name that comes up the most. Precise prices are difficult to estimate: count around 170 euros minimum for a “pallet” controller.

For the rest, it can climb very quickly, such as systems operating thanks to the breath, which can reach 800 euros.

And the big players in the market, in all this?

Microsoft is the only one to have offered a solution, with its “Adaptive controller” sold for 90 euros.

The main competitor, Sony, offers some possibilities for modifying keys in the interface of its consoles, but no more. 

The “Paralympic” circuit, a solution?

Finally, there remains to be done with an unclear legislation, even absent in the majority of cases.

"A lot of things remain unresolved with regard to disability," notes Théo Jordan.

For example, a tournament is often run by the game publisher, and it is he who will define the rules.

Where it can be a problem is that the publisher can very well say "We only play with the controller or only with the keyboard", and prohibit any modified controller.

As a result, some suitable peripherals may be refused.

»

Would the solution be, then, to create a circuit exclusively reserved for players with disabilities, on the model of the Paralympic Games?

Julien, alias MentonTV, is not convinced: “We don't mind playing with able-bodied players.

When I play with guys who are 100% and I manage to beat them, I'm happy.

Tony Helynck goes in this direction: “Today, there is no difference for a publisher like Riot Games (

,

).

A woman or a person with a disability can participate in the same competitions as the others.

Creating a separate league would only be an alternative to what already exists.

If we do that, we are going against inclusion”.

“We are only at the beginning”

All the challenge is there, for the various actors questioned: it is first a question of making visible the players, to make evolve the rest.

MentonTV recounts its efforts, via the Twitch platform, to highlight players with disabilities: “I had the chance to stream on Kiinstar's [a former

.

I had nearly 700 viewers, we had a themed evening and presented equipment used by players with disabilities.

People were asking lots of questions.

Something is developing, we are only at the beginning”.

Our off-road file

The purpose of these initiatives, like Rebird or the Battle4 event from Friday?

“Allow everyone to play together”, Judge Martin Laffay of Handicap International.

“The advantage of video games and esports is that it is easier to include everyone.

As well enjoy.

Despite the work to be done, all the players remain optimistic.

“We should not hope for a revolution, it will take time, tempers MentonTV.

But in ten years, I hope that things will be put in place in games, on consoles, on adapted peripherals.

"Theo Jordan, he concludes with ambition:" What we want is that a player can be recruited not because he is disabled, but because he is good.

The power of esports is that we can all play together”.

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