Abiotic Factor, an early-access survival crafting game inspired by games like Half-Life, has a Misophonia audio accessibility option.
For an early-access game, Abiotic Factor has a whole host of good accessibility options, from common ones like larger texts and colorblind modes to less common ones like Arachnophobia (the fear of spiders; the game replaces spider-like models) and loud ambient sounds. Many players, however, were surprised with the inclusion of Misophonia.
Misophonia is a not-so-talked-about, and often ignored, condition where people get irritated or triggered by common sounds. Some common examples include sounds of chewing, yawning, gulping, and breathing. In Abiotic Factor, when your character chews, drinks, and eats, you won’t hear a peep.
While many may not realize what the big deal is, gamers with Misophonia are praising this option to high heaven. Most shared their delight about its inclusion, while others admitted they weren’t even aware they had Misophonia until they turned on this option. “I never knew what this was called until I played this game,” one wrote. “Now I know I have Misophonia, but for me, it is specifically only eating sounds. Everything else is fine, and I often enjoy other sounds that are common triggers, like the drinking sounds.”
One of the developers later responded to the Steam page praise, stating the game currently only covers eating and drinking sounds and that they plan to expand upon this in future updates by adding options to turn off specific sounds.
While common sounds can lead to a more immersive experience, they can also be an annoyance to some gamers, which is why we’re very happy Abiotic Factor is so considerate.
Abiotic Factor isn’t the first game to have this option. Satisfactory also has a Miophonia toggle (that one removes chomping noises) which has also been met with praise. Accessibility in modern gaming still has a fairly long way to go, but small additions like the Mishonia option in Abiotic Factor are a step in the right direction.
