Street Fighter player Shunya Hatakeyama suffers from muscular dystrophy, so he uses his chin to launch devastating combos. He’s not the only Japanese gamer proving that disability is not an obstacle in eSports.
Naoya Kitamura, who is blind and relies on sound to play the beat ’em up game Tekken 7, also hopes his skills in a billion-dollar industry will help make society more open-minded.
“I block a move and the sound it makes tells me what move it was,” Kitamura said.
“Then I’ll react and make my move,” he told AFP, demonstrating a dizzying attack with Tekken character Lucky Chloe.
Competitive gaming is booming around the world, with global esports revenue estimated at more than $1 billion, and many believe it could someday be at the Olympics.
The sector isn’t as big in Japan as it is in eSports-mad China and South Korea, but it’s starting to take hold.
In order to offer Japanese players with disabilities the opportunity to be part of the campaign, social worker Daiki Kato founded a company called ePara in 2016.
Kato’s company employs gamers like Hatakeyama and Kitamura, both 28 years old, giving them time off to attend to their other duties, which include working on the company’s website and helping organize gaming events.
Hatakeyama mostly competes in Street Fighter V tournaments, which are open to anyone – disabled or able-bodied – and says the beauty of fighting games is that “you can overcome handicaps and you can compete against other people.”
“When I play in a tournament I don’t want my disability to be a problem,” he said.
“I want to move people with my way of playing.”
– Custom Controller –
Hatakeyama was born with degenerative muscular dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since he was six years old.
He has always loved fighting games, but over the years his muscles have weakened to the point that he could no longer hold a controller.
Depressed, he quit gaming for six years until last year when he and a friend decided to design and make a custom controller that he could use with his chin.
Hatakeyama used his fingers to press buttons on his computer keyboard and said he quickly got back into the groove.
Now he also trains other players with disabilities, guiding them through complicated combinations and giving tips on different characters.
“If I never played fighting games, I wouldn’t try to find solutions when I encounter something difficult,” he said.
Many of ePara’s players are new to eSports and don’t have much experience of competing in tournaments.
Company boss Kato believes there is a growing market for disabled players and he thinks manufacturers will start to get excited and take notice.
“As more people with hearing or visual impairments play games, game makers will respond by making more games they can play,” he said.
– “Same rules, same competitions” –
Kato wants to use eSports to showcase the talents of people with disabilities, saying many people in Japan “don’t have a lot of opportunity to interact with them.”
Kitamura, who has microphthalmos and has been blind since birth, says esports can help change the perception that people with disabilities “just need help.”
“I’m really good with computers and I can do a lot more than some people who can see,” he said.
“It’s not just about being helped – depending on the circumstances, we can also help people. It’s about collaboration.”
Kitamura believes the term eSports itself is also helpful as it projects an image of serious competition rather than “just people playing games”.
There have been eSports medal events at the Southeast Asian Games, and they will also occur at next year’s pandemic-delayed Asian Games.
Many believe the Olympic and Paralympic Games will follow, but Kato says that “there is no need to differentiate between disabled and non-disabled people in eSports”.
“That’s an interesting thing about it,” he said.
“Whether you are in a wheelchair or not, the same rules and the same competitions apply.”
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