Ubisoft has announced a commitment to cater for hearing impaired gamers from now on in all its in-house developed titles, according to Gamasutra.

Apparently this will mean modifications to many of its development engines to include a subtitle facility from the conception stages. While it also promises to try and implement subtitles in existing developments, such as Far Cry 2, Shaun White’s Snowboarding and the new Prince of Persia game where possible, it’s also partnered with non-profit organisation Handicap International to launch Handigo; a game intended to highlight the difficulties faced by handicapped people every day.

Of course, the news about subtitles isn’t only going to appeal to the hearing impaired. This is a facility that a great many people will find use for - from parents who want the sound turned down for a while to those who can’t stand to listen to any more terrible in-game voice acting. A wise lead on Ubisoft’s part, that hopefully other game devs will quickly follow.