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Microsoft Launches Xbox XP to Expand Franchises Beyond Games
Confirmed
In Short: Microsoft has launched a new entertainment division called Xbox XP to expand its game franchises into film, television, and merchandise.
Microsoft has launched a new entertainment division called Xbox XP, focusing on expanding its game franchises into film, television, and merchandise.
Xbox XP, short for Experience Points, will oversee film and television adaptations, consumer merchandise, brand partnerships, and live events.
The division will be led by Kayleen Walters, who previously worked at Lucasfilm and Mojang, where she helped grow Minecraft from 350 million to over 425 million units sold.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma emphasized in a staff memo that franchises can mean more to people than just the time spent playing them.
Walters stated, "Fans don't just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways."
The new division will operate across four main areas: film and television adaptations, consumer merchandise, brand partnerships, and live experiences.
Microsoft is also exploring strategic options for its Xbox gaming division, including spinning it off or reorganizing it as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The XP division will work alongside Xbox studios and external creative partners, with games remaining at the center of these properties.
Xbox XP aims to help Xbox become the number one entertainment and gaming company in the world by broadening its franchises beyond video games.
The division's formation comes just three months after Sharma announced a major "reset" for Microsoft's struggling video game business.
Microsoft's new division is a significant restructure, bringing together capabilities that had previously been distributed across various teams.
Some fans and users have expressed mixed feelings about the expansion, with many preferring the company to focus solely on gaming.
Background
Microsoft has launched a new entertainment division called Xbox XP to expand its game franchises into film, television, and merchandise.
What's confirmed
- Microsoft’s gaming arm has created a new entertainment division called XP, short for Experience Points, focused on bringing Xbox franchises to film and television along with consumer products, partnerships, and live experiences, the company officially announced.
- “It brings together capabilities that have existed across various teams at XBOX for years and aligns them behind a shared mission: helping our franchises reach more people, create deeper connections with players and new fans, and unlock new opportunities for these fandoms to grow around the world,” Ball wrote.
- The division will be led by newly appointed President Kayleen Walters.
- 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.
- Microsoft is looking beyond video games as it establishes XP, a new Xbox division focused on expanding its biggest franchises into movies, television, merchandise and live experiences.
- I cannot imagine a better leader for this division and we are just getting started imagining what it will build.
- Game Developer reports that Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has unveiled a new division called XP, focused on game-adjacent ventures that expand Xbox properties beyond interactive entertainment.
What's still developing
- Sony Pictures Entertainment and Aniplex 's Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) parent are both in turn subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
- Crunchyroll increased the prices for all of its subscription tiers in the U.S.
- Crunchyroll is an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan's Aniplex.
- The model is A Minecraft Movie, the biggest movie of 2025 in the U.S., which already has a sequel, Minecraft Squared, in production and a theme park opening in 2027, which Xbox calls the first of many.
- A Call of Duty movie from Peter Berg and Taylor Sheridan is in the works at Paramount, a Diablo animated series is set at Netflix, and Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT, which Xbox rescued after PlayStation canceled it, is already eyeing film and TV adaptations.
- Walters brings considerable experience in entertainment and franchise management to the position.
- It’s an exciting new direction for Microsoft to take advantage of the boom in game-related movies and TV shows, but it’s also a sharp contrast to layoffs at the Xbox game divisions, which started in June and are expected to hit 3,200 jobs.
- Some of us remember back to the bad old days of 2012, when Microsoft created Xbox Entertainment Studios, which ended in failure and layoffs in Hollywood.
- We are bringing the Web to the TV like never before with Internet Explorer, launching a brand new music service, and making it even easier to find the entertainment you love using Kinect and Bing voice search.
- TV & Movies – With Xbox Video, start a TV show or movie on your Windows 8 tablet and finish it on the big screen through Xbox 360; see the names of cast and crew for the film you are watching and discover related films.
- Xbox SmartGlass is a free downloadable app that takes your Windows 8 and RT tablets and PCs, Windows Phone 8, iOS and Android devices, and converts them into smart second screens for the entertainment you are enjoying through your Xbox.
- Below is a post from Yusuf Mehdi, Chief Marketing Officer for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division, announcing details about a major new update to the Xbox dashboard and the launch of Xbox SmartGlass, which brings games, music, TV and movie experiences off the console and onto your phone, tablet and PC.