Xbox let gamers patent their unique controller design Player’s Patent, a new campaign for Xbox’s Design Lab, revolutionises the concept of customisation. Not only do Xbox now let gamers customise their controllers – but they also give them actual, ‘legal’ ownership of their unique design. 

While other brands have offered customisable products before, the public has never been able to claim a patent for their design. This brave idea is inspiring millions of gamers to create their unique design – and then share it with the world in the hope of it becoming the most popular controller out there.

Xbox are celebrating the top-selling designs by turning ordinary gamers into design icons, giving them their own marketing, celebrity endorsements and even stores. This is more than just a marketing stunt. It makes Design

Lab go from a customisation site, to a true design tool.

XBox Design Labs officially launched in the US, September 2016. The hero product is the customisable controller. 8 million colour combinations to play with to ‘make it yours’. Xbox have a target of 425,000 controller sales in 2016, but that’s not enough.

We didn’t just want to create awareness – we needed to create an explosion in popularity.

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Client: Microsoft XBox
Project: Global launch campaign, concept development, art direction
Agency: McCanns London
Role: Contract Creative/Art Director
Head of Art: Dan Howarth
Date: 2016
Region: Global