Personal computer (and console) survival video game 7 Days to Die by independent

video game developer The Fun Pimps, is a zombie apocalypse survival game is realistic in ways

reminiscent of the medical model of disability both from the game's setting and because of its

unique injury system introduced in the latest update to the game as of August 2020. The

medical model of disability is in some ways a monolith for disability studies to its prevalence in

the medical field with diagnoses. The medical model has inherent ableism stating that disability

is a problem that must be cured or alleviated for a person to succeed. It happens that 7 Days to

Die has a heavy representation of both the medical model and actual medicine throughout its

playtime along with typical horror tropes that come along with zombie media. Zombie media

due to the nature of the subject matter can be considerably ableist and 7 Days to Die is an

example of this in the medium of video games.

The first aspect of 7 Days to Die of note for people with disabilities and their

representation is the nature of the undead enemy characters themselves. Zombies can be

compared to intellectually disabled people and people with amputated limbs. This presents the

question if zombified beings, while fictional, are ableist by design. Zombified beings are scary

because they are something we are not and as such the “other.” By creating a frightening

construct, the developers have fallen into the trope of making otherness. The combat of 7 Days

to Die is largely based upon the removal of limbs of enemy characters to crowd control large

groups of zombies. In video games, crowd control means handling large groups of enemy

characters at once. In reality, though crowd control is a loaded term, especially due to the

protests going on as of this writing regarding police brutality (7 Days to Die does not help its

case by including zombified police officers as a higher tier enemy type). The hordes of undead
are closer to the idea of the fast zombie from the film 28 Day Later (2002) versus the slowing

shambling creatures in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) and also show more

signs of intelligence than the usual portray of a zombie. The higher intelligence level of the

undead within 7 Days to Die creates a dichotomy between ableist and progressive rhetoric.

A key question of morality regarding zombified humans is that they were once living

people and does killing them subtract from their former humanity? There is a debate about

whether or not zombies qualify as human. I argue that undead/zombie human beings due

qualify as a human in some respects but due to their violent and cannibalistic nature do not

qualify completely as human. From a disability studies perspective I feel that the zombies in 7

Days to Die can be compared to humans with intellectual disabilities as such it could be

considered that killing them is eugenical or assisted suicide. I personally agree with the latter

more than the former argument. Undead humans are not comparable entirely to intellectually

disabled humans due to their lack of features that make a person versus a human. The

difference between personhood and humanity is key as zombified humans within 7 Days to Die

have no direct personality and are human only on superficial levels. I won’t outright say killing

them in the game is justified but they do attack the player frequently and instigate combat

action.

The combat action of 7 Days to Die can result in injury for the player having the player

acquire disabilities or disability in a sense. 7 Days to Die has a system of injuries that a player

can acquire such as lacerations, concussions, and broken limbs all of which affect the player's

movement or statistics in some manner. These injuries can be compared to acquiring a physical

disability. Due to the hindering nature of these injuries, the comparison to disability is one
based largely upon the medical model of disability. The medical model of disability is largely

based on a cure approach and within the game, the only way to get rid of these injuries is to

have your character die and respawn or cure them using the various medicines found in the

game. Aspects of ableism and a cure narrative abound with this feature as when a player

acquires these injuries it directly affects the ability to play the game unless cured. This can be

compared to the lack of accessibility in gaming hardware and the majority of video games for

people with disabilities. Rather than adapt to new audience developers and manufacturers

occasionally take the cure narrative approach instead of trying to apply universal design to their

products.

7 Days to Die is a video game that is still within game launcher Steam’s early access

program on a personal computer. This means that the game is still in development but is in a

state that makes it playable. The problem with early access is that many games don't have

accessibility features when they launch and many never receive them. This is strange as the

personal computer is one of the most accessible platforms for people with a wide variety of

disabilities. Many developers seem to not see a need for accessibility when it comes to

designing their games as they do not see people with disabilities as a core market. This can be

seen in the development of 7 Days to Die as the game has many features that make the game

inaccessible. These include a large amount of screen shake and aiming for weapons that require

fine motor skills to use. The most inaccessible feature of the game is that it operates on a time

limit. The player only has seven days (hence the title) to build a base and gather enough

materials to stop the incoming zombie horde on the night of day seven. While this initially
seems reasonable, it must be taken into account that each in-game day to night cycle only lasts

one hour of real-time.

The rushing nature of 7 Days to Die’s gameplay can be changed within the game settings

though, with the game providing one of a few accessibility options within the game. The first

option a player can change is the amount of daylight per day which is important as the zombie

enemy characters within the game become faster at night within the in-game clock. A player

can change the setting so that there are limited hours or even no hours of the night to make the

game easier. The ability to change this setting helps players who have limited reflexes or

mobility be able to complete combat actions in the game. The other option in the game that

can be deemed an accessibility option is the ability to change the number of days until a

“horde” giving players more time to build a base, collect weapons, and gather resources. In

terms of more general accessibility options, 7 Days to Die has a difficulty slider. As a survival

game, 7 Days to Die is of a genre that is known for being very convoluted and inaccessible.

Despite having a few accessibility options as mentioned previously, the genre itself is largely the

problem. Survival games require the player to craft their own belongings and housing. The

survival genre does not hold the player’s hand.

7 Day to Die is a piece of horror media that is made more complex due to being

interactive. While containing a few accessibility options for players with disabilities the game is

still to complex. The ableist nature of the medical system in the game may make some player’s

uncomfortable as well.