Microsoft's Xbox has split its franchise operations into two new leadership tracks, naming Kayleen Walters president of a newly created division called XP and Maria Angelidou-Smith as CEO of Mojang, effective October 19th.

Both executives will report directly to Xbox leadership as part of the company's "Creator and Connection" strategy. The restructure separates the Minecraft studio's game and platform work from the franchise's non-interactive revenue lines — a portfolio Microsoft has been quietly building for years through consumer products, the 2025 A Minecraft Movie, and a growing licensing programme.

What does XP actually do?

XP, short for "Experience Points," will operate across four lines:

• Film and television adaptations
• Licensing and merchandise
• Sponsorships and brand partnerships
• Live events, theme parks and other location-based experiences

The unit inherits the consumer-products engine Walters built at Mojang, where she ran a programme supporting more than 250 licensees and grew the franchise's retail and licensing revenue into a multibillion-dollar business. She also served as executive producer of A Minecraft Movie and is producing its sequel, work that gives her direct credits in the film pipeline XP will now own. Before Microsoft, she spent 13 years at Lucasfilm overseeing Star Wars across films, products and partnerships.

Why a separate CEO for Mojang?

Angelidou-Smith arrives from Meta, where she led Facebook Groups — a product used by more than 1.8 billion people monthly — and ran teams across events, creators, search and monetisation. She later held the chief product officer role at Reddit and led product and technology at HR platform Personio. Xbox framed the hire as a play to apply social-platform product discipline to one of the largest user bases in entertainment.

What changes for the studio

Mojang's game-development mission is unchanged in name, but a CEO-level appointment outside the studio's traditional leadership bench signals Microsoft wants product execution from someone with experience running global consumer platforms. Angelidou-Smith's remit covers Minecraft's continued development across the franchise, not just Mojang's Stockholm operation.

Walters' move to XP formalises a role that previously sat inside Mojang. The separation lets Mojang focus on the game and platform while XP handles revenue lines — film, licensing, sponsorships, live events — that require different production cycles, contract structures and IP terms.

What the Xbox statement signals

Xbox's announcement centred on Walters' record rather than Angelidou-Smith's roadmap. "Our franchises can mean more to people than the time they spend playing them, and Kayleen knows how to build those experiences with the industry without losing what made people care about the franchise in the first place," the company said. The framing is a defensive one: Xbox is acknowledging the dilution risk that comes with aggressive cross-media expansion and pointing to Walters' Minecraft track record as the mitigant.

What to watch next

• A Minecraft Movie sequel production milestones under Walters
• Angelidou-Smith's first public product roadmap for Minecraft after October 19th
• Whether XP signs a second franchise-scale licensing or location-based deal beyond Minecraft
• How Mojang's existing Stockholm leadership adjusts reporting lines under the new CEO