He has collaborated on some of the biggest games and consoles launched for a generation.

He’s also travelled the world, worked with some of music and sport’s biggest names, played live on stage and driven high-performance cars across Europe.

But for Aberdonian Graeme Boyd, all that would mean nothing without the incredible drive and passion of the fans he meets.

Graeme, more commonly known to the gaming community by the handle Aceybongos – a nickname coined by school friend Hadyn Cooper – has been involved with Xbox for more than a decade.

He said: “I’ve worked on five console launches including Xbox One, Xbox One S and the release of the Kinect on Xbox 360.

“I’ve also had the opportunity to do mad things like play Battlefield 1 with Snoop Dogg, I’ve interviewed footballers Ruud Gullit and Freddy Ljungberg and played Rock Band on stage in front of hundreds of people.

“Working in social media means that I get to work on most of our products and games to some extent, but I would never claim to have much of an impact on the development of the games themselves. I’m not smart enough for that.

“Working with developers on marketing campaigns is such fun, though, especially when it involves travel.

“I’ve been to the US on countless occasions and all across Europe, but I do have a real soft spot for Stockholm in Sweden where DICE (who make Battlefield and Battlefront) and Mojang (Minecraft’s makers) are based.”

But for Xbox’s social marketing manager the highlight of his time with Xbox so far has been meeting fans.

He added: “I always love the gamescom event in Germany every year, because it’s all about fans. Meeting and talking with Xbox fans is absolutely the best part of my job because we learn so much and their energy and passion is contagious.”

Aberdeen born and raised, the 36-year-old attended Hazlehead Primary and Academy before going on to do a degree in English and Film Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

Graeme said: “I was always into English and writing – I loved writing stories and reviews of games and films and even made, published and sold my own Nintendo fanzine when I was 12.”

He followed what could be considered a more traditional route into games journalism, completing a postgraduate degree in journalism at Napier University in Edinburgh.

While there, he realised he would rather write about video games than “proper news”.

Boyd went on to work for Computer and Videogames magazine as a staff writer before moving into the world of consoles with the Official Xbox Magazine.

His move into social media, developed after joining Xbox as a community manager in 2006, working more on platforms like Facebook and Twitter as they were still developing.

And the passionate gamer still has a soft spot for titles with a link to his native Scotland – especially Grand Theft Auto, which was originally developed in Dundee before moving on to the Central Belt.

“I’m really, really proud of the Scottish games industry and always get a kick out of games that have a Scottish connection,” he added.

“It’s always been a huge thrill for me to think that the GTA phenomenon started in Dundee and is now made in Edinburgh.

“I remember playing the original GTA in 1998 and not even realising it was a Scottish game.

“And in fact one of the original creators of GTA, Dave Jones, went on to create Crackdown on the Xbox 360 and is now working on Crackdown 3, still in Scotland. So I’m really excited about that.”

He added: “I absolutely love the whole Forza franchise, from Forza Motorsport to Forza Horizon. Forza Horizon in particular has a special place in my heart because it’s developed here in the UK. It’s development is led by a fellow Scot called Ralph Fulton and I genuinely love the game to bits.

“We’ve done some cool campaigns with them in the past that involved driving very expensive and fast cars around Europe

“I also love spending time with Rare – another classic British studio with an amazing history – and the team there is so lovely. I was playing their games when I was growing up in Aberdeen, so to get to work with them now is extra special.”

He has collaborated on some of the biggest games and consoles launched for a generation.

Although a massive fan of gaming and, in particular, the Civilization and Forza series, Graeme’s other big love is football – as is clear from his posts on social media and the fact he’s created Dons themed Xbox One controllers.

“My dad was always a Falkirk fan but since I grew up in Aberdeen during the Fergie glory years, I was always going to be a Dandy,” he said.

“I think my first game was a 2-1 win over Motherwell in 1986 or so with my dad. I vividly remember stopping at the newsagent on the Mounthooly roundabout before the match to get some sweeties.

“The last match I went to was the Scottish Cup Final with my son Finley.

“It was an amazing day and the display before the game was incredible to be part of. Just a shame we got the wrong result.”

Due to the fact he lives and works in England, Graeme doesn’t get much chance to return to the city of his birth.

“I don’t get back to Aberdeen as often as I’d like. I live and work near Reading and my folks moved down to England a couple of years ago, so Aberdeen FC is my only reason to visit now – and the last time I did that was two years ago.

“I absolutely love Aberdeen and miss it every day. My best memories from growing up there are those rare glorious summer days when the granite sparkles and the sun shines till 11pm.”

For the dad-of-two the growth of the industry he’s so heavily invested in is just as important to the future of his own children, six-year-old Finley and three-year-old Fraser.

The inclusion of basic coding and game development skills for children at school is something he feels is “hugely important”.

“We’re moving towards a digital economy where coding skills are going to be just as important as reading, writing and arithmetic.

“Kids these days grow up embedded in digital culture, so to me it makes perfect sense that they should learn the fundamentals of how it all works.”