Xbox has announced a new TV, movies, and entertainment division called XP. It will be headed up by Kayleen Walters, a Lucasfilm veteran who moves over from her most recent post as president of Minecraft maker Mojang, where she also served as an executive producer on last year's A Minecraft Movie.
XP brings together four "areas of investment": Xbox Pictures; Xbox Products; Xbox Partnerships; and Xbox Places. Microsoft said XP was set up to help Xbox become the number one entertainment and gaming company in the world, which requires broadening its big franchises beyond video games themselves. But it is not a production company. Rather, Microsoft wants to find the right partners to work across film, TV, physical experiences, and consumer products.
Microsoft has already seen significant success in the movie and TV space, with Warner Bros.' A Minecraft Movie breaking box office records, and Amazon's Fallout TV show setting records for Prime Video. Upcoming Xbox adaptations include movie sequel Minecraft Squared, Fallout Season 3, a Call of Duty movie with Peter Berg and Taylor Sheridan, and a Diablo animated series with Netflix. Microsoft's deal for Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor Physint includes film and TV rights, so expect an adaptation of that eventually.
XP is also about live events, and again, Xbox already has success there. 5 million watching at home. The most recent Minecraft Live , which saw the announcement of the first new dimension for Minecraft in 14 years, reached more than 144 million people.
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