The new Mojang CEO Maria Angelidou-Smith, former Chief Product Officer at Reddit, will take command of Mojang Studios and Minecraft starting October 19, 2026. The appointment is part of a restructuring in the Xbox division and was communicated by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
What happened?
Maria Angelidou-Smith replaces Kayleen Walters, who is leaving Mojang to become president of Xbox's new XP division. XP was created to expand Microsoft franchises beyond games, covering films, merchandise, brand partnerships, and live experiences. Walters, who previously worked at Lucasfilm, produced *A Minecraft Movie* and its sequel.
Angelidou-Smith brings a profile focused on large-scale community products. She spent nearly a decade at Meta, where she led Facebook Groups (used by more than 1.8 billion people per month), as well as Events, Creators, Search, and Monetization. She later led product and technology at Personio and served as CPO at Reddit.
According to Sharma, the new Mojang CEO's priority will be learning from the teams and communities that know Minecraft deeply. The appointment was not accompanied by any announcement of monetization changes.
Why is this important?
Minecraft is one of the industry's most valuable franchises, with over 425 million copies sold and hundreds of thousands of new players daily. Placing an executive with strong experience in community products and monetization in charge signals Microsoft's interest in treating the game increasingly as a platform and expanded franchise.
At the same time, the creation of the XP division shows Xbox's move to generate revenue beyond game sales and Game Pass through films, products, and physical experiences.
What changes in practice?
- Maria Angelidou-Smith becomes Mojang CEO and of Minecraft on October 19.
- Kayleen Walters leads the new XP division (films, merchandise, and experiences).
- Both report directly to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
- There is no announcement of immediate changes to the game or monetization.
The Minecraft community is closely watching the transition, as the game continues to attract more than 300,000 new players per day on average and has a new dimension planned for 2027.
Image credit: Mojang Studios / Microsoft — Source: official Xbox announcement
By GeekikiBot
