CASE 104 / Microsoft / Xbox / 2019
Changing the Game / We All Win
Real gamers demonstrated what accessible hardware changes in ordinary play and friendship.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook; published by SNS Media Tech. No named human reviewer is claimed.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: McCann New York and Microsoft; the Shorty entry credits Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man as director. Changing the Game is the campaign/award title; We All Win is the Super Bowl film title.
Recognition: 4th Annual Shorty Social Good Awards: Winner in Video, Games and Integrated Campaign (2019 campaign edition).
Launch / edition: 2019. Award years: 2019.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
The Xbox Adaptive Controller addressed barriers faced by gamers with limited mobility. Microsoft’s May 2018 announcement says it was developed with gamers and accessibility organizations; the 2019 advertising therefore followed an existing product-development effort rather than introducing an advertising-only promise.
How the idea came to life
The campaign featured real gamers and family members describing and using the controller. The entrant says the team spent four months visiting participating children and parents, providing controllers and filming their experiences. The television film was titled We All Win, within the Changing the Game campaign.
How it reached people
A longer social film preceded a 60-second Super Bowl LIII placement on 3 February 2019. The Shorty entry dates paid digital support from 31 January to 8 February, with gaming voices, media coverage and subsequent television appearances extending the story.
Supporting sources: Primary product announcement → Primary award archive with entrant narrative → Contemporaneous trade campaign record →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
The Shorty archive verifies wins in Video, Games and Integrated Campaign. Its entrant-reported impression and conversation figures lack enough methodological detail to establish unique reach, controller adoption or incremental sales, so those figures are not used as performance proof here.
The creative mechanism.
User-led product testimony connects a functional adaptation to shared participation
Lead with the user’s task
A technical feature becomes understandable when viewers see the activity it enables. Start with what the person wants to do, then show the obstacle and the changed experience. Avoid making a disabled participant a symbolic prop for the brand. Their own priorities, preferences and explanations should determine which product benefits deserve attention.
Make the surrounding experience match
Inclusive advertising creates expectations about purchasing, setup and support. Audit those touchpoints before promoting a device as accessible. A modest service business may achieve more by fixing one frustrating booking step than producing a grand inclusion film. The communication is more credible when people can repeat the advertised experience without exceptional assistance.
Separate specialist relevance from broad meaning
Potential users need compatibility, setup and support information; a general audience may first need to understand why the problem matters. Build distinct paths for both. A mass-audience story can introduce the issue, while accessible demonstrations and detailed documentation help people decide whether the solution fits their actual circumstances.
Protect agency during production
Real testimony does not automatically make an ethical production. Agree on compensation, informed consent, accessibility accommodations and review of sensitive personal details. With children, involve guardians and age-appropriate assent without turning family emotion into a sales instrument. Demonstrating competitive enjoyment or independent choice can be more respectful than an imposed narrative of rescue.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Recognize a barrier in play
- 02See an individual using a solution
- 03Explore practical product information
- 04Share or recommend where relevant
Growth job: Explain an accessibility innovation → make its benefit concrete → strengthen brand relevance. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Show a real user completing a valued task, then make the practical route to doing it equally accessible.
Keep these boundaries
Do not copy sentimental family testimony, imply one device meets every access need or present a population estimate as measured product impact.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A small software team pays two adult accessibility testers to demonstrate one repaired workflow in a consented, captioned walkthrough.
Build the test
- Let participants choose the task and explain remaining limitations in their own words.
- Provide keyboard-accessible transcripts, accurate setup notes and a direct support route.
- Publish only approved footage and compare the same task before and after the repair.
Measure the right thing
Track task completion, errors and support needs in a small usability sample; keep video views separate from successful product use.
Know when to stop
Stop publication if participants withdraw consent, the workflow remains inaccessible or the edit misrepresents their experience.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Explain an accessibility innovation → make its benefit concrete → strengthen brand relevance
What to adapt: Show a real user completing a valued task, then make the practical route to doing it equally accessible.
Prerequisites: Demonstrably useful product; Paid user collaboration; Accessible production and documentation; Consent and safeguarding.
Smaller-team route: Best for organizations that have already removed a concrete barrier. A small team can film a paid adult usability walkthrough; it should not imitate a large emotional campaign before fixing the experience.
Budget: Not established in the reviewed public sources; adaptation requirements are not historical campaign cost estimates. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which user task makes the value visible without a brand speech?
- What must change in onboarding for the promise to be repeatable?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- Microsoft: Announcing the Xbox Adaptive Controller for accessible gaming →Primary product announcement · Supports: May 2018 timing, collaboration with accessibility organizations and adaptable controls.
- Shorty Awards: Changing the Game →Primary award archive with entrant narrative · Supports: Campaign execution, 31 January–8 February paid support, 3 February Super Bowl airing, awards and McCann/Hungry Man credits.
- The Drum: We All Win →Contemporaneous trade campaign record · Supports: 31 January 2019 publication and the We All Win title of the 60-second Super Bowl film.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.