Microsoft Expands Xbox’s Movie, TV Ambitions With New Division

Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox unit is formalizing its film and TV foray with a new division focused on expanding the video-game giant’s franchises into other media.

The entertainment division called XP will grow Xbox’s footprint in film, TV, products, events and theme parks, Microsoft said Thursday in a statement . “Fans don’t just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways,” Kayleen Waters, the group’s new president, wrote in an email to her new team, Microsoft said.

Waters, who was president of Microsoft’s Minecraft unit Mojang, previously worked at Star Wars steward Lucasfilm for 13 years, including as a vice president of franchise marketing. She was an executive producer on the Minecraft movie, which set box office records and earned $157 million its first weekend. Its sequel is in production.

Microsoft also on Thursday named a new head for Mojang. Maria Angelidou-Smith, who previously worked for Reddit Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., will become the unit’s chief executive officer this month.

Microsoft’s ambitions in entertainment remain strong, after mass layoffs and studio spin-outs to sharpen the focus of its gaming arm. Xbox’s Fallout TV show has seen major success. Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, where the show airs, reported that 100 million people watched at least a little of the series, which was just renewed for a third season.

In the pipeline are an animated Netflix series inspired by the gothic Diablo game, a Call of Duty movie and PHYSINT , a project with celebrity game-maker Hideo Kojima that includes film and TV rights.

A Minecraft theme park is set to open in London in 2027. The new XP division will centralize efforts around such ventures but is not itself a production company.

Gaming companies have seen mixed success enticing fans of TV shows into the completely distinct video-game medium. On its Game Pass subscription service, Xbox’s Fallout titles saw a five-fold increase in hours played as the first season of the show aired. In the year after the Minecraft movie released, the game saw a 75% increase in weekly active users. Meanwhile, Riot Games’ $250 million Netflix show Arcane failed to convert many new players to the game.