Xbox launches XP, a division for film, merchandise and parks

Xbox unveiled XP on Oct. 8, a new division that will take its franchises beyond games: film and television, merchandise, brand partnerships and live events. The announcement ran on Xbox Wire as an internal email from Asha to Xbox employees, plus a post from Matthew Ball, the company's chief strategy officer.

Kayleen Walters, who had been running Mojang, the studio behind Minecraft, will lead it. To replace her, the company hired Maria Angelidou-Smith as the new CEO of Mojang and Minecraft, starting Monday, Oct. 19. Both report to the author of the email.

XP does not start from scratch: according to Ball, it pulls together capabilities that already existed across different teams. It will have four areas:

• Xbox Pictures: film and television adaptations.
• Xbox Products: licensing and merchandise.
• Xbox Partnerships: sponsorships and alliances with brands and creators.
• Xbox Places: broadcasts, in-person events and theme parks.

Walters spent 13 years at Lucasfilm and was an executive producer of *A Minecraft Movie*. Xbox says Minecraft grew from 350 million units sold to more than 425 million under her leadership; that is a company figure, with no cutoff date. Angelidou-Smith spent almost ten years at Meta, where she ran Facebook Groups, and was Reddit's head of product.

Ball said XP aims to help the franchises reach more people, and that "great games remain at the center" of them.

Gizmodo describes it mostly as a reorganization: no new films or series were announced with the division, only those already under way. It mentions *Minecraft Squared*, a *Call of Duty* movie from Paramount, a *Gears of War* movie, an animated *Diablo* series on Netflix, the third season of *Fallout* on Prime Video and, for 2027, a Minecraft area at the Chessington World of Adventures park near London.

Xbox did not disclose a budget or headcount for XP, and the email does not say when Walters formally leaves Mojang.