BAFTA Games Awards 2024 announce UK charity SpecialEffect as Special Award winner

The 2024 BAFTA Games Awards are right around the corner, on 11 April to be exact, but the evening’s first accolade recipient has just been announced.

BAFTA has officially unveiled that this year, SpecialEffect will be awarded the BAFTA Games Special Award, one of the highest accolades that the organisation can bestow.

SpecialEffect is a UK charity that helps enhance the lives of those living with physical disabilities by working with game developers to create both hardware and software that is inclusive and accessible.

Mick Donegan MBE, founder and CEO of SpecialEffect, formed the charity in 2007 in the hopes of allowing those with severe physical disabilities to find a form of self-expression through video gaming, helping them to do so by working alongside others to develop specialised technology.

Donegan’s background in assistive technology drove this endeavour and saw him team up with son Bill, an avid gamer with experience in product design.

This small collaboration between father and son grew into the incredible charity we see today which boasts 30 employees, working across several wonderful projects and offering one-to-one assessments of those with severe disabilities across the UK looking to access the gaming space.

SpecialEffect has firmly cemented itself as a frontrunner in promoting accessibility in the industry with the charity having already teamed up with Xbox, Sony, and Logitech. From adapted controllers to the gaze-controlled EyeMine software, SpecialEffect is to be commended for its ongoing commitment to accessibility.

“With a background in special education, I realised how much people with severe physical disabilities were missing out by not being able to play. I started SpecialEffect not only to help individuals to play video games but also to collaborate with the games industry to make their games more accessible ‘at source’,” Donegan said, via a press release.

“Since then, we have been privileged to be invited to share our ideas with more and more developers all over the world. Now, 17 years since SpecialEffect began, it’s an absolute honour for SpecialEffect’s work to be recognised by BAFTA.”

BAFTA’s executive director of awards and content Emma Baehr added, “SpecialEffect’s work is essential to the games world and is hugely deserving of a BAFTA Special Award. Their innovative and supportive approach to making games accessible drives progress within the industry, collaborating with developers and studios on new technologies to make games within reach to more people.”

Mick Donegan MBE will be present at the ceremony on 11 April to accept this award on behalf of the charity.