US District Court dismisses disabled gamer’s lawsuit

A US District Court has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Sony denied people with disabilities access to games including Everquest.

The Hollywood Reporter brings news of Judge Percy Anderson’s ruling that video games are not a place of public accommodation.

Disabled gamer Alexander Stern’s lawsuit argued that his visual impairments prevent him from fully enjoying Sony’s games. Stern filed his suit in October 2009 and the ruling came down February 8, 2010. In the ruling, the court noted that the defendant would have had to show Sony denied him public accommodations . Due to Anderson’s ruling that Sony is not a place of public accommodation, it could not be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Anderson suggested that treating games otherwise would create liability for numerous manufacturers.

I agree with Judge Anderson and don’t what other ruling could come from this. It would be hard to consistently make such a visual medium as video games completely accessible to those with visual impairments. Even if you could pull it off, the extra time in development would likely see most of the games axed before they were properly started. It’s hard to imagine game companies lining up to corner the market for visually impaired gamers.

Read [The Hollywood Reporter] Via [Game Politics]