Title	XBOX EQUALITY CONTROLLER
Brand	XBOX
Product/Service	XBOX
Category	A01. Glass
Entrant	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY Munich, GERMANY
Production	FIJAK GMBH Frankfurt, GERMANY
Production 2	POP POSTPRODUCTION Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company	DAMIENDAMIEN Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company 2	LOETRONIC Aachen, GERMANY
Additional Company 3	HEYNE-DRUCK Offenbach, GERMANY
Additional Company 4	DASPRODUKTIONS BüRO.FRAKFURT Bruchkobel, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Rebecca Gordius	Minecraft	Global Communications Manager
Jenn Panattoni	XBox	Head of Social Good
Sophie Orlando	Xbox	Director Gaming Communications
Maxi Gräff	Xbox	Marketing Communications Lead, Xbox DACH
Alex Schil	SERVICEPLAN GROUP	Global Chief Creative Officer
Leif Johannsen	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Managing Partner
Patrick Matthiensen	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Managing Partner
Lars Holling	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Managing Partner
Ann-Kathrin Frohloff	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Account Director
Diane Schulz	SERVICEPLAN GROUP	Business Director – Global Key Accounts
Daniel Steller	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Creative Director Copy
Pavel Bondarenko	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Creative Director Art
Theresa Fechler	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Art Director
Tudor Cucu	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Senior Art Director & Illustrator
Maximilian Schöngen	SERVICEPLAN GROUP	Global Creative Strategist
Dennis Fritz	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Senior Motion Designer / Head of Film
Kevin Lausen	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Motion Designer
Ben Hug	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY	Head of Design
Till Felix	Saint Elmo's Hamburg	Media Designer
Fiete Girardet	Effectiv Team SFX	Founder & Head of Production
Sebastian Heidrich	FIJAK	Head of Production
Matt Taylor	Freelance	Illustrator
Vals -	Freelance	Illustrator
Muti -	Freelance	Illustrator
Alina Bohoru	Freelance	Illustrator
Sam Rodriguez	Freelance	Illustrator
Fernando Nunes	Freelance	Illustrator
Nils Baumann	Freelance	Illustrator
Artcommando -	Freelance	Illustrator
Bernd Westphal	Freelance	Photographer

Why is this work relevant for Glass: The Award for Change

Gaming is huge. With more than 2.3 billion gamers worldwide it is the biggest entertainment industry in the world. It’s pop culture, it’s fun. That is the image that most companies and influencers in the industry convey. But there’s also a sad truth about gaming. Sexism, discrimination and prejudices against women are ubiquitous. Sure: our products make life more fun for billions of people around the world. But for us it’s only fun, if everyone is having fun. That’s why it was important to us to draw attention to this relevant topic that receives far too little attention in our industry.

Background

At Xbox, we believe that gaming is for everyone. We strive to be inclusive by welcoming all people to our community and create a place where everyone can play free from fear and intimidation. We want to make life more fun for billions of people around the world by creating gaming experiences that everyone can enjoy. Because when everyone plays, we all win.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

Women make up approximately half of the gaming community. They are successful in eSports and hold leadership positions in the gaming industry. Despite those facts, while gaming women not only have to fight against their opponents, but also against prejudice and sexist discrimination. As a result, many female gamers not only lose the fun of playing, it also has an impact on their real life.

Describe the creative idea

“Gaming for everyone” isn’t just a slogan for us. We stand by our commitment that gaming is a place where everyone is having fun. Therefore, we not only launched a worldwide initiative during Women’s History Month to support and celebrate women in gaming, but also took our most sacred piece of the console – the controller – and made a slight adjustment: by turning it into a statement for equality.

Describe the strategy

The Equality Controller stands for the support women in gaming have for each other. That’s why we sent it to the most influential and supportive women in 23 countries who are role models for all the female gamers around the world. With the messages on the controller we give them strength and support them to be living examples of what self-confidence, belief and pride can do.

Describe the execution

We replaced the controller's “B button” with the “equal symbol" and added a special function: by pressing it, gamers hear inspirational and supportive messages from the most famous and successful women in the gaming industry – including Bonnie Ross, CVP, Founder and Head of 343 Industries; Cantika, one of the most popular Hijab streamers in Southeast Asia with a following of 2.7 million; Helen Chiang, CVP, Studio Head Minecraft, Mojang Studios; Sarah Bond, CVP, Gaming Ecosystem, Microsoft; and Jennifer Lufau, founder of Afrogameuses, a French non-profit and community advocating diversity and inclusion in gaming. Their messages give female gamers strength and self-confidence. The limited-edition controller was designed in 8 different special packaging, created by internationally renowned illustrators, and was sent to the world's biggest gaming influencers in 23 countries on 4 continents, giving the message for equality the reach it deserves.

Describe the results / impact

The Equality Controller was limited to 100 pieces, all of which were sent to influential and supportive female gamers in 23 countries in 4 continents. In unboxing videos and reviews, they introduced their followers to the Equality Controller and the idea behind it, talked about their own, very personal experiences with sexism in gaming and encouraged female gamers around the world. Important and influential specialist media took up the topic and reported on it. With 100+ million contacts, 90+ million send outs in the form of wallpapers and gamer themes and an increase in search queries by 1500% (#womeningaming or #gamingforeveryone), we brought the topic to the public's attention and made women in gaming more visible.