Spyro’s missing subtitles anger gamers

A hotly anticipated remake of the Spyro the Dragon video games has been criticised for excluding deaf gamers.

The new Spyro Reignited Trilogy does not have subtitles during the game’s video sequences, so deaf players cannot follow the story.

In a statement, publisher Activision said there was “no industry standard for subtitles”.

But many deaf gamers criticised the company’s position and said it was a “weak excuse”.

While the remade game does have on-screen text during character interactions, the video sequences that tell the story are not subtitled.

Activision said the development team had “committed to keep the integrity and legacy of Spyro that fans remembered intact”.

“I can’t even think of a recent game that didn’t have some basic subtitles for all dialogue,” said games reviewer Susan, who writes the One Odd Gamer Girl blog.

Games developer Mark Sweeney added: “‘There’s no industry standard for subtitles… so you couldn’t be bothered trying?

“The minimum industry standard is to have subtitles for all dialogue and audio cues.”

Activision said it would “evaluate” the situation.