5 minBusiness
Xbox Launches XP Entertainment Division to Expand Franchises Beyond Games
Microsoft has created XP, a new entertainment division led by former Mojang president Kayleen Walters, to push Xbox franchises into film, television, live events, merchandise, and theme parks.
Microsoft is formalizing its push to turn Xbox video game franchises into entertainment properties that reach far beyond consoles. The company announced XP, a new division dedicated to film, television, live events, merchandise, and location-based experiences, to be led by Kayleen Walters, a Lucasfilm veteran who most recently served as president of Minecraft maker Mojang and as an executive producer on last year's A Minecraft Movie.
XP is not a production studio. Instead, Microsoft describes it as a hub for finding partners across four investment areas: Xbox Pictures for film and television adaptations, Xbox Products for licensing and merchandise, Xbox Partnerships for sponsors and brand partners, and Xbox Places for broadcast events, in-person gatherings, theme parks, and other location-based experiences. The name is a play on «Experience Points,» the in-game currency familiar to players.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the division was created around a straightforward premise: the company's biggest franchises can mean more to fans than the hours they spend playing. «Fans don't just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways,» Walters said. Sharma added that Walters knows how to build those experiences with the industry «without losing what made people care about the franchise in the first place.»
The strategy already has evidence behind it. Warner Bros.' A Minecraft Movie broke box office records, and Amazon's Fallout television series set records for Prime Video. Microsoft said hours played in Fallout games on Game Pass rose fivefold during the first season of the show, while Minecraft has seen weekly active users climb more than 75 percent year over year since the movie's release, as of April 30, 2026.
Several adaptations are already in motion. They include a Minecraft movie sequel titled Minecraft Squared, a third season of Fallout, a Call of Duty film with Peter Berg and Taylor Sheridan, and a Diablo animated series with Netflix. Microsoft's deal for Hideo Kojima's Physint, a spiritual successor to Metal Gear Solid, includes film and television rights, suggesting an eventual adaptation.
Live events are another pillar. Blizzard's BlizzCon drew 35,000 people to Anaheim, California, with 12.5 million watching from home. The most recent Minecraft Live, which announced the first new Minecraft dimension in 14 years, reached more than 144 million people. Microsoft also pointed to partnerships such as a Gears of War takeover with WWE and a line of Xbox furniture with Ikea. A Minecraft theme park is scheduled to open next year.
The announcement carries a note of corporate déjà vu. In 2012, during the Xbox 360 era, Microsoft launched Xbox Entertainment Studios to produce shows that would air directly on Xbox consoles. That effort planned series based on Gears of War, Fable, Forza, and State of Decay, along with an original Halo television show announced at E3 by Steven Spielberg. It was shut down after just two years as the Xbox One's «all in one» message failed to resonate with gamers following its 2013 reveal.
As part of the changes, Mojang has a new boss. Maria Angelidou-Smith joins Xbox as CEO of Mojang after nearly a decade at Meta working on Facebook Groups and later stints at Personio and Reddit, where she was chief product officer. Sharma said Angelidou-Smith has built products used by billions of people and led product and engineering organizations through significant growth and change, and that her first order of business is learning from the teams and communities that make Minecraft special.
Minecraft remains central to the company's plans. It is the best-selling video game of all time, with more than 425 million copies sold, and its merchandising business ranks among the top 20 globally. The new division arrives amid Sharma's ongoing «Reset» at Xbox, which has seen nearly 2,000 staff cut from the gaming business so far this financial year.
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