Xbox Creates XP Division for Films and Theme Parks, Names Maria Angelidou-Smith CEO of Minecraft
- Xbox is setting up a new division to take its games beyond the screen.
- Kayleen Walters, who has been at Mojang, becomes President of XP.
- Sharma wrote that the name is "a play on 'Experience Points.'" The division groups work that has existed across Xbox teams for years into four areas:
“Our ambition at XBOX is to be the number one entertainment company in the world.”
Matthew Ball, writing on Xbox Wire
Xbox is setting up a new division to take its games beyond the screen. Called XP, it will handle film and TV adaptations, merchandise, brand partnerships, live events and theme parks. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced it on Oct. 8 in a memo to staff that also named a new head for Minecraft.
Kayleen Walters, who has been at Mojang, becomes President of XP. Maria Angelidou-Smith, a former Chief Product Officer at Reddit, joins Xbox as CEO of Mojang and Minecraft. Both will report to Sharma.
What XP covers
Sharma wrote that the name is “a play on ‘Experience Points.'” The division groups work that has existed across Xbox teams for years into four areas:
- XBOX PICTURES: film and television adaptations
- XBOX PRODUCTS: licensing and merchandise
- XBOX PARTNERSHIPS: sponsors and brand partners
- XBOX PLACES: broadcasts, in-person events, theme parks and other location-based experiences
“Our franchises can mean more to people than the time they spend playing them,” Sharma wrote.
Kayleen Walters: from Star Wars to Minecraft
Walters spent 13 years at Lucasfilm working on Star Wars films, products and partnerships before joining Xbox. At Minecraft, she helped build consumer products into what Xbox calls “a multibillion-dollar business with more than 250 licensees.” She was an executive producer of A Minecraft Movie and is a producer of the sequel.
In a separate Xbox Wire post introducing XP, Matthew Ball said Minecraft grew from 350 million units sold to more than 425 million during her time at Mojang, and that its merchandising business became one of the top 20 in the world.
Maria Angelidou-Smith takes over Minecraft
Angelidou-Smith comes from outside the games industry. She spent nearly a decade at Meta, where she led Facebook Groups, which Xbox says is used by more than 1.8 billion people a month. She later led product and technology at Personio before becoming Reddit’s Chief Product Officer.
Sharma said Xbox wanted a leader who “has built products for communities at enormous scale” and is “deeply technical.” Angelidou-Smith’s first priority, according to the memo, “will be learning from the teams and communities who know Minecraft best.” She starts on Monday, Oct. 19.
A busy month for Minecraft
The new CEO arrives eight days before Minecraft’s Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, which is due on Oct. 27 according to our October and November release calendar. Minecraft also features in classrooms; in California, the Battle of the Counties Minecraft challenge asks students to design solutions for their own communities.
For Xbox, XP is a bet that its biggest franchises can reach more people away from the console. That work now has its own division and its own president.
Featured image: The logo of XP, the new Xbox division. Image: Xbox
