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Xbox puts former Reddit and Facebook exec in charge of Minecraft studio Mojang

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Xbox puts former Reddit and Facebook exec in charge of Minecraft studio Mojang

A lot of change is going on in the annals of Xbox right now. The games division of Microsoft is in the midst of 3,200 layoffs and a complete restructuring, and that includes in senior management. Mojang, the company overseeing Minecraft, now has a new boss, but their background isn't strictly in game development.

Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, has announced that Maria Angelidou-Smith is taking on the role of Mojang CEO, replacing Kayleen Walters, who's now president of XP. That's apparently another wing of Xbox dedicated to how "how people experience our franchises beyond the games themselves" - in other words, TV and movie adaptations and licensing agreements and what not.

Considering the success of A Minecraft Movie, and the fact she's a named producer on the sequel, it makes sense for Walters to move into that role. It's mentioned Minecraft garnered over 250 licensees in her time there.

Angelidou-Smith is no stranger to positions like this, but more in social media than video games. From 2014 to 2022, she was with Meta, looking after various aspects of Facebook, firstly in app monetization, and then in the realm of Facebook Groups, Dating and the like.

Then, after stints in other industries, she took on the job of chief product officer at Reddit in November of last year. And now she's in charge of Minecraft.

"Mojang already has an exceptional game development team that knows Minecraft and its players deeply," Sharma writes in an internal memo shared by The Hollywood Reporter .


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