Maxi Gräff From Microsoft Xbox: “Games Mean Everything To Me”

Maxi, you've been at Microsoft for over seven years. You've been the face and brains of Marketing Communications since 2020. What is your day-to-day work like?

Maxi Gräff : It depends on which cycle we are in during the financial year. It starts in the summer. We start planning six months in advance - we develop plans for upcoming games with agencies, allocate budgets and think about how much marketing action to put into which product areas. The Xbox brand encompasses the console, controllers, headsets, all the games from the 23 game studios and our subscription service - the Xbox Game Pass. When we know what games are coming before they've even been announced and can develop our own ideas - that's an extremely exciting time! Once the ideas have been finalized and the budget approved, we move on to the second cycle: execution. This lasts from summer to Christmas and beyond. Always depending on our release calendar.

Knowing and playing brand new games before everyone else - sounds like a dream job?

Maxi : Depending on the cycle, my day-to-day work often involves organizational matters. Sometimes that simply means writing and answering tons of emails. I had my biggest flood of emails at the last gamescom. The part I enjoy the most is when you go into the event - be it a gamescom or a launch event or an influencer campaign  - and talk to the people who are passionate about the products. That's the fruit you reap. I always benefit from that when things get stressful.

Maxi Gräff: Games as a medium of cultural experience

How did you get into the industry yourself?

Maxi: I studied media management specializing in PR at Macromedia University here in Munich. I wrote my final thesis on “World of Warcraft”. Don't ask me what the title was - that was eighteen years ago! That was the first time I came into contact with games. I wrote previews and reviews for websites. That wasn't paid back then. But: I got the games I tested for free. As a student, you like doing that. I was at gamescom for a platform back then. And as an exhibitor, you get access to industry events. I got to know the GameStar/GamePro staff at an industry party. They were looking for editorial support and I applied and was accepted.

What do games mean to you?

Maxi: Woah. Everything!

Everything?

Maxi: Let me explain it like this: they are an accompanying medium that supports me in different emotional situations. When I'm stressed, games are a place where I can relax. Games are also a medium where I make new friends, and I also play a lot with existing friends. And: for me, games are a medium in which I can have cultural experiences - ideas, stories, emotions are all in games. That builds empathy. These are the three basic functions that games play in my life. Depending on the situation, they stand by my side and can support me.

In the wake of sexism lawsuits against leading games companies in recent years, it has once again become clear that women in the games industry still don't have an easy time of it. What are your experiences? What challenges do women face?

Maxi : In my early days as a games journalist, it was extreme. You were invited by publishers to test the games. I think I only saw one other woman from Germany at such an event in my first three years. You could count the women in the editorial offices on one hand. What struck me even back then was that when you went to events, you were treated differently as a woman. Developers explained certain terms to me as if I couldn't know them as a woman. At a shooter event, a player came up to me and asked if he should play for me. Right at the beginning - he didn't even wait. [laughs] If I had at least played badly! It seems like little things. But they keep piling up.

What has changed since then?

Maxi : Looking back, I think it's amazing how many problematic things happened back then from today's perspective. I thought it was normal. Also because there was a lack of interaction with women. Precisely because there were so few other women in the industry, I didn't go to another woman and ask: Tell me, did you experience that too? In hindsight, that annoys me. I wish I had addressed this earlier and done more to ensure that I experienced equality in my working environment. That has changed. You now see a lot of women in the industry, especially in the social media environment. There are female streamers, YouTubers and developers. Seeing this change makes me very happy. We haven't reached the end yet, but things are happening and the development is relatively steep.

Female career changers also have opportunities in the games industry

However, women in management positions are still a rarity in the games industry. What needs to change here?

Maxi Gräff : This has partly grown historically. You often rise to a management position after a certain amount of time in the company. And precisely because women haven't been working in the industry that long, they are still missing at the top. That doesn't mean that there aren't fantastic women from other industries who can take on a management position in gaming. You don't have to be able to name every title in Call of Duty to get a job in the gaming industry. You don't have to be a gaming expert to work in a leadership position in the games industry. Prejudices like this are often a deterrent. HR management, marketing - completely different skillsets are required.

What's more, job advertisements - not only in the games industry - can be frightening to read. But they never correspond to the truth in everyday life. I think women often think they have to fulfill every single point in order to have a chance. That's not true.

You live and work in Munich. Which Bavarian local heroes of the gaming community come to mind?

Maxi Gräff : We had a Munich gaming get-together before the pandemic. People from Activision Blizzard and Rockstar were also there, as well as a few PR agencies. But it was quite cozy, not very big. But there are a few game companies and publisher locations and lots of indie studios.

And where does a games-savvy Munich resident go?

Maxi Gräff :Games/Bavaria organizes events all the time, as does the Computer Games Academy Munich. Games events take place at the Gasteig cultural center, for example the “Gaming for curious beginners” series. There are also eSports clubs, such as Munich eSports e.V., which you can join.

What could be better?

Maxi Gräff: My absolute city role model is Stockholm. We have merchandise places like Elbenwald, but in Stockholm there's something like that on every corner. There are cafés for pen-and-paper games. In the middle of the city center, places have been created where the gaming community can meet and exchange ideas. Instead of the tenth gin bar, more space could be created for such community places. My favorite bar in Stockholm is the Kappa Bar. You sit at a table with controllers and eat, drink and play. There are games quiz evenings and the drinks are named after mana potions and everything is made with a lot of love for games. I think there is a need for places like this. Games are becoming more and more popular, you can see that in films and series like “The Last of Us” and in big fashion labels that invest in games. Gaming has become present and the last non-gamer has now realized that games are an important part of our cultural entertainment media. As soon as people realize this, it's time to create these spaces and open up the medium to everyone.