A New Strategy to Take Xbox Beyond the Screen
Microsoft is creating a dedicated Xbox business unit called XP to expand its gaming franchises into film and television, merchandise, brand partnerships, live events and physical attractions. The division will be led by Kayleen Walters, the current president of Mojang Studios, as Xbox seeks to build on the commercial and cultural reach of properties such as Minecraft and Fallout.
The announcement, made in an internal leadership update published by Xbox on October 8, 2026, establishes a more formal structure for turning Xbox-owned intellectual property into experiences beyond games.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the company’s franchises can mean more to people than the time they spend playing them. She added that Walters understands how to develop those experiences with industry partners without losing the qualities that made audiences care about the original properties.
The move places transmedia expansion within a dedicated business unit at a time when Microsoft is continuing to reorganise its gaming operations. It also brings together several activities that have already generated visibility for Xbox, including the Fallout television adaptation, A Minecraft Movie and the forthcoming Minecraft-themed destination at Chessington World of Adventures in the UK.
Kayleen Walters Will Lead Four Areas of Expansion
Walters brings experience across both gaming and entertainment franchises. Before taking charge of Mojang Studios in February 2026, she spent eight years overseeing franchise development at Microsoft. Earlier in her career, she worked at Lucasfilm for 13 years, eventually becoming vice president of franchise marketing and integrated planning.
That background is directly relevant to XP’s remit: extending established fictional worlds across different formats while maintaining a coherent identity for each brand.
The new division will operate through four areas:
- Xbox Pictures: Film and television adaptations of Xbox franchises.
- Xbox Products: Licensing, merchandise and consumer products.
- Xbox Partnerships: Sponsorships and commercial brand partnerships.
- Xbox Places: Broadcasts, in-person events, theme parks and other location-based experiences.
Rather than treating each adaptation or commercial partnership as a separate initiative, this structure gives Xbox a dedicated organisation for coordinating different forms of franchise development.
The announcement does not disclose financial targets, staffing levels or revenue projections for XP. Its immediate significance is organisational: Microsoft is establishing a clear division for work that extends its gaming properties into entertainment and experiences outside the game itself.
Mojang Gets a New President as Walters Moves to XP
Walters’ appointment also brings a leadership change at Mojang Studios, the developer behind Minecraft. Maria Angelidou-Smith will replace her as president of the studio, moving to Xbox from Reddit, where she served as chief product officer. She previously spent nearly a decade at Facebook.
Sharma highlighted Angelidou-Smith’s experience building products for large communities, along with her understanding of technology, creators and monetisation.
The leadership transition separates two responsibilities that have become increasingly important to Microsoft’s gaming business. Mojang will continue to be led by a president focused on the studio and its product ecosystem, while Walters will oversee the broader expansion of Xbox franchises across media, licensing and physical experiences.
The changes were outlined together in Xbox’s official leadership announcement. They underline how the company is organising its leadership around both the development of games and the opportunities that emerge once those games become established global brands.
Minecraft Already Has a Blueprint for Expansion
Minecraft is one of the clearest examples of the opportunities XP is designed to pursue. Its reach already extends beyond the game through film, merchandise and location-based entertainment.
Walters served as executive producer on A Minecraft Movie, released in 2025. The film generated $550 million worldwide after ten days in theatres, according to GamesIndustry.biz’s report on its box-office performance. A sequel has since been greenlit for July 23, 2027, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.
The next major extension is Minecraft World, a themed destination planned for Chessington World of Adventures in the UK in 2027. The attraction was discussed at Minecraft Live in September 2026.
The project follows a 2024 agreement between Microsoft and Merlin Entertainments, the operator of Chessington. Merlin committed more than $110 million to two Minecraft-themed attractions, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
At the time, Walters described the partnership as a combination of complementary expertise: Mojang and Microsoft understand the Minecraft brand, while Merlin specialises in physical attractions and location-based experiences.
XP’s new Xbox Places division gives this type of collaboration an organisational home. It could help Xbox coordinate future physical experiences with its other franchise activities, although the company has not announced additional attractions as part of the XP launch.
Fallout Shows the Potential of Television Adaptations
The Fallout television series provides another example of a gaming property reaching audiences through a different medium. The Amazon Prime Video adaptation has helped raise the franchise’s profile beyond its established player base, with renewed attention also benefiting the games.
Industry reporting has documented sales increases across the Fallout back catalogue following the show’s release and subsequent season activity, alongside increased engagement with the mobile game Fallout Shelter. GamesIndustry.biz has covered the sales impact of the television adaptation.
For Xbox, the relationship between television and games is commercially relevant because the two formats can reinforce each other. A television series introduces the world and its characters to viewers who may never have played the games, while the existing games provide additional ways for fans to explore the setting.
XP’s Xbox Pictures division will oversee film and television extensions, placing adaptations within the same broader structure as merchandise, partnerships and physical experiences.
However, the success of individual projects is not guaranteed. The Halo television series, for example, ran for two seasons on Paramount+ before being cancelled in 2024. Meanwhile, a Gears of War film is in development at Netflix, with the project described as an origin story for Delta Squad in IGN’s coverage.
These different outcomes illustrate why expanding a franchise requires more than simply transferring its name and setting to another medium. Adaptations need to work as entertainment in their own right while retaining the elements that make the original property recognisable.
XP Arrives During a Broader Xbox Reset
The new division is being established during a period of significant change across Microsoft’s gaming business. Sharma announced a broader Xbox reset earlier in 2026, amid a restructuring that has included workforce reductions and studio divestments.
Reports from GamesIndustry.biz put the planned workforce reduction at approximately 3,200 jobs and reported plans to divest five studios.
The restructuring has prompted questions about the longer-term direction of Xbox. GamesIndustry.biz contributing editor Rob Fahey has questioned whether Microsoft has clearly articulated what the business is intended to look like after the reset, arguing that a definitive end state has yet to be explained in his analysis of the Xbox reset.
XP provides one concrete element of the wider strategy: Microsoft wants to develop the value of its franchises beyond the games themselves. The new unit formalises that ambition, but it does not, by itself, resolve wider questions about Xbox’s game development priorities, hardware strategy or financial objectives.
Can Xbox Turn Its Franchises Into Lasting Entertainment Brands?
The creation of XP signals that Xbox sees franchise development as a business extending well beyond game sales. Minecraft already demonstrates how a successful game can support cinema releases and physical attractions, while Fallout shows how television can renew interest in an established catalogue.
The challenge will be coordinating those opportunities without weakening the underlying properties or spreading resources across projects that fail to connect with audiences.
With Walters leading XP and Angelidou-Smith taking over Mojang, Microsoft is separating the stewardship of one of its most important game studios from the broader commercial expansion of its franchises. The four-part structure also gives Xbox a defined framework for film and television, consumer products, partnerships and location-based experiences.
What remains unclear is how quickly XP will expand beyond projects already in motion, what success will look like financially, and how the new division will fit into Xbox’s wider restructuring.
For now, the announcement marks a clear organisational shift: Microsoft is no longer treating transmedia expansion solely as a collection of individual partnerships. It is building a dedicated Xbox business around the idea that its biggest gaming worlds can reach audiences wherever they choose to engage with them.
