Long-Tail Crowdsourcing for Game Accessibility: A Study of Player Co-Creation in Hearthstone's Accessibility Mods

Research Article
Open access

Long-Tail Crowdsourcing for Game Accessibility: A Study of Player Co-Creation in Hearthstone's Accessibility Mods

Yuan Tao 1* , Xin Xu 2
  • 1 School of Management, Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, Nanjing, China    
  • 2 School of Management, Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, Nanjing, China    
  • *corresponding author taoyuan@stu.njts.edu.cn
AEMPS Vol.189
ISSN (Print): 2754-1177
ISSN (Online): 2754-1169
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-179-2
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-180-8

Abstract

As the global gaming population grows, disabled players are increasingly voicing their needs for accessible game design. However, official accessibility features in many games often fail to address the diverse requirements of disabled players, particularly for niche groups. In response, player communities have taken initiative to develop accessibility tools, including mods. This paper uses Blizzard's Hearthstone as a case study, focusing on the community-driven "Hearthstone Access" visual accessibility mod. It explores how player communities, through co-creation mechanisms, achieve the development and optimization of inclusive features outside the platform. By integrating Long-Tail Theory, Crowdsourcing Theory, and Participatory Design Theory, the paper introduces the concept of "Long-Tail Crowdsourcing," revealing how players respond to the needs of niche groups through distributed, low-cost collaboration. This study not only demonstrates the feasibility of user-driven innovation in digital products but also provides new perspectives for platform companies' inclusive strategies, user participation mechanisms, and external innovation models.

Keywords:

User-Generated Content, Player Co-Creation, Accessibility Design, Long Tail Crowdsourcing, Crowdsourcing Model

Tao,Y.;Xu,X. (2025). Long-Tail Crowdsourcing for Game Accessibility: A Study of Player Co-Creation in Hearthstone's Accessibility Mods. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,189,201-206.
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References

[1]. Newzoo. (2024). Global games market report 2024. Retrieved from https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoos-global-games-market-report-2024-free-version

[2]. MarketingCharts. (2008). Disabled gamers comprise 20% of casual-videogame audience. Retrieved from https://www.marketingcharts.com/industries/media-and-entertainment-4920

[3]. Hassan, L. (2024). Accessibility of games and game-based applications: A systematic literature review and mapping of future directions. New Media & Society, 26(4), 2336-2384.

[4]. Guide Dev. (2022). Hearthstone access. Retrieved from https://hearthstoneaccess.github.io/

[5]. Merritt, D. (2017). User-generated accessibility in virtual world games. International conference on virtual, augmented and mixed reality (pp. 349-358). Cham: Springer International Publishing

[6]. Andrade, R., Rogerson, M. J., Waycott, J., Baker, S., & Vetere, F. (2019). Playing blind: Revealing the world of gamers with visual impairment. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).

[7]. Cairns, P., Power, C., Barlet, M., & Haynes, G. (2019). Future design of accessibility in games: A design vocabulary. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 131, 64-71.

[8]. Baltzar, P., Hassan, L., & Turunen, M. (2023). “It’s Easier to Play Alone”: A Survey Study of Gaming With Disabilities. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 1(1).

[9]. Anderson, C. (2006). The long tail: Why the future of business is selling less of more. Hyperion.

[10]. McKay, P. (2011). Culture of the future: Adapting copyright law to accommodate fan-made derivative works in the twenty-first century. Regent University Law Review, 24, 117.

[11]. Sultan, H. (2022). Hearthstone access: The story of the modder opening up Blizzard’s game for more players. Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/hearthstone-access-the-story-of-the-modder-opening-up-blizzards-game-for-more-players

[12]. Howe, J. (2006). The rise of crowdsourcing. Wired Magazine, 14(6), 176-183.

[13]. Estellés-Arolas, E., & González-Ladrón-de-Guevara, F. (2012). Towards an integrated crowdsourcing definition. Journal of Information science, 38(2), 189-200.

[14]. Sanders, E. B. N., & Stappers, P. J. (2008). Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. Co-design, 4(1), 5-18.

[15]. Bodker, S. (1996). Creating conditions for participation: Conflicts and resources in systems development. Human–computer interaction,11(3), 215-236.

[16]. Sousa, C., Neves, J. C., & Damásio, M. J. (2022). The pedagogical value of creating accessible games: A case study with higher education students. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(2), 10.

[17]. Humayun, H., Malik, M. N., & Ghazali, M. (2024). Analysis of Motivational Theories in Crowdsourcing Using Long Tail Theory: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Crowd Science, 8(1), 10-27.

Cite this article

Tao,Y.;Xu,X. (2025). Long-Tail Crowdsourcing for Game Accessibility: A Study of Player Co-Creation in Hearthstone's Accessibility Mods. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,189,201-206.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICMRED 2025 Symposium: Effective Communication as a Powerful Management Tool

ISBN：978-1-80590-179-2(Print) / 978-1-80590-180-8(Online)
Editor：Lukáš Vartiak
Conference website: https://2025.icmred.org/Bratislava.html
Conference date: 30 May 2025
Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
Volume number: Vol.189
ISSN：2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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References

[1]. Newzoo. (2024). Global games market report 2024. Retrieved from https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/newzoos-global-games-market-report-2024-free-version

[2]. MarketingCharts. (2008). Disabled gamers comprise 20% of casual-videogame audience. Retrieved from https://www.marketingcharts.com/industries/media-and-entertainment-4920

[3]. Hassan, L. (2024). Accessibility of games and game-based applications: A systematic literature review and mapping of future directions. New Media & Society, 26(4), 2336-2384.

[4]. Guide Dev. (2022). Hearthstone access. Retrieved from https://hearthstoneaccess.github.io/

[5]. Merritt, D. (2017). User-generated accessibility in virtual world games. International conference on virtual, augmented and mixed reality (pp. 349-358). Cham: Springer International Publishing

[6]. Andrade, R., Rogerson, M. J., Waycott, J., Baker, S., & Vetere, F. (2019). Playing blind: Revealing the world of gamers with visual impairment. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).

[7]. Cairns, P., Power, C., Barlet, M., & Haynes, G. (2019). Future design of accessibility in games: A design vocabulary. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 131, 64-71.

[8]. Baltzar, P., Hassan, L., & Turunen, M. (2023). “It’s Easier to Play Alone”: A Survey Study of Gaming With Disabilities. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 1(1).

[9]. Anderson, C. (2006). The long tail: Why the future of business is selling less of more. Hyperion.

[10]. McKay, P. (2011). Culture of the future: Adapting copyright law to accommodate fan-made derivative works in the twenty-first century. Regent University Law Review, 24, 117.

[11]. Sultan, H. (2022). Hearthstone access: The story of the modder opening up Blizzard’s game for more players. Eurogamer. https://www.eurogamer.net/hearthstone-access-the-story-of-the-modder-opening-up-blizzards-game-for-more-players

[12]. Howe, J. (2006). The rise of crowdsourcing. Wired Magazine, 14(6), 176-183.

[13]. Estellés-Arolas, E., & González-Ladrón-de-Guevara, F. (2012). Towards an integrated crowdsourcing definition. Journal of Information science, 38(2), 189-200.

[14]. Sanders, E. B. N., & Stappers, P. J. (2008). Co-creation and the new landscapes of design. Co-design, 4(1), 5-18.

[15]. Bodker, S. (1996). Creating conditions for participation: Conflicts and resources in systems development. Human–computer interaction,11(3), 215-236.

[16]. Sousa, C., Neves, J. C., & Damásio, M. J. (2022). The pedagogical value of creating accessible games: A case study with higher education students. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 6(2), 10.

[17]. Humayun, H., Malik, M. N., & Ghazali, M. (2024). Analysis of Motivational Theories in Crowdsourcing Using Long Tail Theory: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Crowd Science, 8(1), 10-27.

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