Gaming now reaches a wider audience than ever before, spanningyoung and old, male and female, and backgrounds of all kinds. One group that has often been under-represented is people with disability, but a new announcement from major eSports team Luminosity shows just how quickly the situation is changing. The Canadian based team has signed Rocky Stoutenburgh, who goes by the tag Rockynohands, and is a quadriplegic gamer best known for playingFortnite.
Rockynohands holds two world records inFortnite, the first for most Victory Royales using a mouth-operated controller, the second for most eliminations in a battle royale using a mouth-operated controller, and is the first quadriplegic player to sign aprofessional esportscontract. Rocky has also achieved a kill count of 13 inCall of Duty: Warzone, and is looking to reach a target of 18. The Luminosity team is also known for representing Harley “MrFreshAsian” Campbell, Harbleu, and Muselk.
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Rocky has been gaming for a long time, but became paralyzed from the neck down in 2006 after he fell while wrestling with a friend. He was reintroduced to gaming with the help of his brother and a special mouth operated controller known as the QuadStick, which uses a joystick and multiple sensors triggered by sucking or blowing into them, these can be mapped to standard controller movements and button presses. The QuadStick was launched in 2014 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, and is now available in three models to suit different game types and budgets.
Soon after returning to gaming, Rocky startedplaying and streaming multiplayer gamessuch asPlayerunknown’s Battlegroundsand theCall of Dutyseries, he has now build up a solid following with over 64k followers on Twitch, and 53k on YouTube. Prior to his accident, Rocky was a dedicated and competitive athlete, and thanks to smartly designed technology and a lot of practice, he is now able to bring his skills to professional competition in eSports.
Gamers with disabilities have often been a group overlookedby the gaming and entertainment industries, despite them making up over 21% of gamers in the U.S. according to charity AbleGamers. TheFortniteskills of Rockynohands, his streaming success, and his signing of a professional contract, shows just how far gamers with disabilities can go when they are supported with control systems that are adapted for them.
Similarly, it is important to increase the representation of people with disabilities within games and other entertainment media. The inclusion ofwheelchair using superhero Cerise inMarvel’s Avengersis a positive step here, while the game’s developer Crystal Dynamics is a leading example of how the industry can better consider accessibility and representation.
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