Video games let us experience incredible things. But for gamers with limited mobility, traditional controllers are difficult to use, making their gaming experience far less enjoyable. The Xbox Adaptive Controller is an innovative controller designed for people with limited mobility that enhances their gaming experience and empowers them to compete in new ways. The device enables them to play on a level playing field, resulting in a gaming experience that, for the first time, is the same for everyone. And by changing their experience, we are changing the way they view the brand.

The video game industry has long ignored players with limited mobility. As a result, gamers with limited mobility would either hack together hodgepodge tools and homemade controllers or had to spend a lot of money on a custom controller just to be able to play. For most, gaming was impossible. As the brand committed to empowering everyone to achieve more, Microsoft designed the first controller for gamers with limited mobility. Our objective was to shine a light on how the Xbox Adaptive Controller enhances their gaming experience and empowers them to compete in new ways.

Microsoft has had a long-standing commitment to creating accessible technology for everyone. With the launch of the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Microsoft wanted to challenge the gaming industry and put accessibility at the forefront of product design. With this, we developed a campaign as inclusive and accessible as the Adaptive Controller itself. We assembled a cast of real gamers with limited mobility, and their loved ones, and let their voices and experiences with the controller become the backbone of each branded element of the campaign. As a result, we created not just a better gaming experience, but a better unboxing, gaming tutorial, and eSports tournament experience for gamers with limited mobility.

The campaign was created to bring national attention to the Adaptive Controller and raise awareness of the power of inclusive design to better the world, which is why the target audience included everyone, not just the 33 million gamers in America living with disabilities. We wanted to shine a light on the challenges that people with limited mobility face and, through the stories of real-life gamers, amplify the voices of gamers with disabilities who are rarely shown in mass media. We discovered gamers over-index in time spent watching online and long-form video, so it was only natural to focus the bulk of our approach on the most popular visual storytelling device – video. However, the campaign reached beyond film to create a better experience in all facets of gaming from unboxing the controller to gaming tutorials to eSports tournaments.

The team spent four months visiting kids with limited mobility and their parents in their homes across the U.S. We gave them Adaptive Controllers, let them open the packaging, helped them set up the device, then stepped back and watched as they played. We captured docu-style content showcasing their real experiences using the device to highlight the impact that accessible technology can have on people’s lives. We edited the content and launched a long-form campaign video on social media platforms the Thursday before the Super Bowl to build momentum toward the big game. Then, we launched the 60 second commercial during the Super Bowl. Our amplification involved social media influencers, including celebrities, the gaming community and gamers with limited mobility -- the conversation took off across the Internet. After the game, the conversation continued with coverage on key morning shows and across major press outlets.

The Adaptive Controller didn’t just change the way gamers with limited mobility played, it changed the entire gaming industry, with major competitors like Google enabling their platforms to be compatible with the Adaptive Controller. In the end, the goal was never to sell more controllers, the goal was to give those gamers with limited mobility a new and better gaming experience.

$35 Million in Earned Media

246% increase in Social Voice

#1 most effective Super Bowl Ad

1.1 Billion impressions

879% increase in #GamingForEveryone

77% increase in conversation about inclusive gaming

58% increase in conversation about inclusive design

242% higher social share of voice