Twitch streamer WheelieGaming has been banned from the popular video game Call of Duty after being accused of hacking. In reality, he’s just using a modified controller.
“Yes, I use a modified controller because it is the only way I can play games using just my mouth. I am not hacking. I spend a lot of time playing and just got good because playing video games gives me a lot of independence,” said Wheelie. “It’s not my fault that I can play better with my mouth than they can with two fully functioning hands.”
After becoming one of the top-rated Warzone players, Wheelie started drawing suspicion. Some viewers were saying things like, “This has to be fake! Nobody can be that good with their mouth,” and, “He must have cheats programmed into his controller!”
The accessible controller, called a QuadStick, lets the user program buttons to three tubes that the person can blow and sip to perform various functions. They can program whatever buttons they need to control a device, but because of restrictions, users have to add additional devices to play on certain consoles like Xbox and PlayStation. Unfortunately, these additional devices are also used by actual cheaters, unfairly lumping the two groups together.
Even with the release of supported accessibility controllers, not every device fits every disability. These billion-dollar companies don’t make or support third-party controllers, even though disabled people rely on them to play games.
“We made an all-in-one accessibility controller that kinda works for some people. Isn’t that enough?” Microsoft said when asked to comment.
A PlayStation executive had this to say: “We can’t risk cheaters ruining the integrity of our games. Maybe disabled players could try and be less good at games so they don’t get banned.”
Just like able-bodied gamers, when a disabled gamer gets too good at a video game it can lead to accusations of hacking. But faking gameplay for views? That’s a new accusation, and one seemingly only leveled at disabled gamers.