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On October 8, 2026, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced two leadership appointments. Kayleen Walters is leaving her role at Mojang to become president of XP, a new Xbox division built around the experiences that surround its franchises beyond games. Maria Angelidou-Smith joins as CEO of Mojang and Minecraft, with a start date of October 19, 2026. Both appointees report to Sharma.
What changed
The announcement made two moves at once: one executive leaves a Minecraft-side role to build a new division, and a new executive takes over stewardship of Mojang and Minecraft. The sections below cover each appointment, the scope Xbox gave the new division, and the wider leadership context. Xbox’s own description is the source for the biographical details and business claims unless noted otherwise.
Kayleen Walters: president of XP
Walters moves from Mojang to lead XP, a division Xbox describes as formalizing work on franchise experiences beyond games. According to Xbox, she spent 13 years at Lucasfilm, where she helped guide Star Wars across films, products and partnerships. At Mojang, Xbox says she helped grow Minecraft consumer products into a multibillion-dollar business with more than 250 licensees, and that she served as executive producer of A Minecraft Movie and producer of its sequel.
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Angelidou-Smith comes from product and technology leadership roles at Meta, Personio and Reddit, according to Xbox. At Meta she led Facebook Groups, Events, Creators, Search, Profile and Monetization. The announcement says Facebook Groups reached more than 1.8 billion people each month; that is Xbox’s description of the product’s scale, not a figure Xbox measured itself. Xbox says she starts on Monday, October 19, 2026, and that her first priority is to learn from the teams and communities that know Minecraft best.
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Reporting line
Both new appointees report to Asha Sharma, according to the announcement.
Key dates
| Date | Development | Source |
|---|---|---|
| February 20, 2026 | Microsoft announces Asha Sharma as executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, reporting to Satya Nadella, and Matt Booty as executive vice president and chief content officer. Phil Spencer stays in an advisory role through the summer; Sarah Bond decides to leave Microsoft. | Microsoft announcement |
| April 23, 2026 | Microsoft Gaming becomes known as XBOX, and Sharma’s title becomes CEO XBOX. | Microsoft editor’s note |
| September 2026 | Matt Booty describes changes to studio remits, including an expanded Activision remit, Bethesda’s expanded remit to include Obsidian, and a combined Playground and Turn 10 studio focused on Forza and Fable. | Xbox leadership remarks |
| October 8, 2026 | Walters named president of XP; Angelidou-Smith named CEO of Mojang and Minecraft. | Xbox announcement |
| October 19, 2026 | Angelidou-Smith’s announced start date. | Xbox announcement |
The September studio changes were a separate development. They were not part of the October XP appointments.
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What XP is meant to do
According to Xbox, XP brings together capabilities that already existed across Xbox teams and organizes them around four areas. The division does not announce a specific film, product, partner or event.
| XP area | What Xbox says it covers |
|---|---|
| Xbox Pictures | Film, television and other linear storytelling. |
| Xbox Products | Licensing and merchandise. |
| Xbox Places | Live events, immersive experiences, attractions, broadcasts and destinations. |
| Xbox Partnerships | Work with creators, brands and communities, including sponsorships and brand partnerships. |
Xbox says games remain the foundation of these franchises and that XP will work with studios and outside creative partners. Sharma described the division’s focus as how people experience our franchises beyond the games themselves
. The XP announcement adds: Great games remain at the center of these franchises and at the heart of XBOX.
Those are two separate statements, from Sharma and from Xbox respectively.
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- 512GB CUSTOM SSD AND XBOX VELOCITY ARCHITECTURE — Reduce load times dramatically with the custom 512GB NVMe SSD and XBOX Velocity Architecture, enabling lightning-fast performance and seamless world streaming.
- QUICK RESUME — Seamlessly switch between multiple games and resume exactly where you left off. No more waiting through title screens and loading bars.
- FOUR GENERATIONS OF DIGITAL GAMES — Play thousands of digital games from XBOX Series X|S, XBOX One, XBOX 360, and Original XBOX with backward compatibility. Many titles are enhanced for better visuals and performance. Smart Delivery ensures you always get the best version for your console.
These are stated intentions. Nothing in the announcement sets release dates, names partners, or projects commercial results for XP.
Figures Xbox reported
These numbers come from Xbox’s own announcements. None of them is independently audited in the sources.
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- Gaming Resolution: 1440p; Performance Target: Up to 120 FPS; HDMI Features: Auto Low Latency Mode, HDMI Variable Refresh Rate, AMD FreeSync.
- 13 years at Lucasfilm for Walters, per Xbox’s 2026 announcement.
- More than 250 licensees for Minecraft consumer products, per Xbox’s 2026 announcement.
- Multibillion-dollar Minecraft consumer-products business, a description Xbox gives without a published revenue figure.
- More than 1.8 billion monthly users of Facebook Groups, as described in the announcement about Angelidou-Smith’s Meta work.
- More than 425 million Minecraft units sold during Walters’s tenure, up from 350 million, per Xbox Wire in 2026. The article gives no measurement date or methodology.
- Biggest opening weekend ever for a video-game adaptation and number one at the domestic box office for A Minecraft Movie, as described by Xbox Wire. The comparison method is not specified.
Who leads what now
The current Xbox leadership roster lists Sharma as CEO, Walters as president of XP, Angelidou-Smith as CEO of Mojang, and Matt Booty as chief content officer. Other executives listed include Helen Chiang, Matthew Ball and Scott Van Vliet. Titles can change, so check the roster on Xbox’s site for the latest version before relying on it.
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Where the story stands
The XP and Mojang appointments are a structural change. They do not, on their own, announce new products, partnerships or release timing. Xbox’s stated direction is to extend franchise experiences beyond games while keeping games central. Whether XP’s four areas produce specific projects or commercial outcomes will become clear only as Xbox announces them.
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