Xbox came to Watts to create a video meant to drive awareness and usage of the new Xbox Family Settings app, while characterizing gaming as an activity the whole family can enjoy. The video targets a global audience of parents with kids age 7+ who are new console buyers eager for a robust and user-friendly app experience.
Business Challenge
Xbox strives to create a gaming environment that’s fun and safe for all and the Xbox Family Settings app helps to do just that. What better way to showcase that than with a video that positions gaming as an experience that people of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy responsibly within the boundaries they set using the app.
Creative Challenge
Creating content that’s relatable across cultures, while ensuring that a diverse cross-section of people and family structures are represented is complex, and it’s just the sort of challenge we welcome. Not to mention that it was a dream come true for our creative team.
From a technical standpoint, the challenge was to create these characters from scratch (using the existing avatar system as a jumping off point) and build high quality models and rigs that could convey the motion and emotion we wanted to capture. In other words, the trick was to create a style that’s familiar to the Xbox user, while making it our own.
Creative Process
To capture an all‑inclusive audience that reflects the diversity of Xbox players, we developed four distinct households that move beyond the traditional family unit. To illustrate the app experience in unexpected ways, we crafted scenes where imagination and whimsy meet tangible product attributes and functionality. We also drew on techniques from our 3D character work for Amazon Alexa: Frustration‑Free Setup, where expressive performance and minimal environments help simplify complex product stories. For Xbox, we created culturally non‑specific, modular home settings that keep the focus on character interaction and allow families to be swapped in and out without being tied to a single aesthetic. Most importantly, we made a fun and informative video — and had a blast doing it.
Building a Clear, Family‑Friendly Story From the Ground Up
To bring Xbox’s Family Settings experience to life, we developed a full creative pipeline that blended research, visual exploration, and iterative 3D animation. These behind‑the‑scenes frames show how we shaped the narrative, refined character performance, and built a cohesive visual language that makes the product intuitive for parents and kids alike.
