The move
Xbox announced Maria Angelidou-Smith as CEO of Mojang and Minecraft, with an October 19 start date. Kayleen Walters moves from Mojang to lead XP, a division spanning film, consumer products, partnerships, and live experiences.
The experience
Angelidou-Smith previously served as Reddit’s chief product officer and held leadership roles at Meta and Personio. Xbox framed her community-product experience as central to the appointment.
Our perspective
The useful question is how that experience meets the work of a game studio and its creators. A leadership announcement establishes a role and a remit; it does not establish what will change inside the game. That distinction is where our coverage begins.