Ubisoft makes Chroma colorblind tool open source for all developers

After years of internal use, Ubisoft has open-sourced Chroma -- a real-time colorblind simulation tool. This accessibility software is designed to help developers better serve the 300 million people around the world who live with color vision deficiencies.

Originally developed in 2021 by Ubisoft’s Quality Control team in India, Chroma allows developers to simulate how a game looks to people with various forms of colorblindness -- all without slowing down performance. It works on both single- and dual-screen setups, runs with customizable overlays, and responds to hotkeys for easy toggling during gameplay.

Unlike some accessibility tools that require exporting footage or interrupting workflows, Chroma is designed for live use. It overlays a simulation filter in real time using the Color Oracle algorithm, allowing developers to interact with their games as usual while seeing exactly what a colorblind player would experience.

Ubisoft’s own accessibility team has been using Chroma internally to fine-tune its games, and now it’s inviting developers everywhere to do the same. “Accessibility is a journey, not a race,” said Ubisoft’s Director of Accessibility David Tisserand. “We’re excited to see what the industry does with this.”

Chroma is available right now on GitHub, here. Thankfully, Ubisoft isn’t locking it down behind a paywall or making it exclusive to its own titles -- this is a free tool meant to help anyone that can benefit from it.