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Microsoft Launches Xbox XP to Expand Game Franchises
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, aimed at expanding its game franchises into film, television, and merchandise.
The division, announced by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, will focus on bringing Xbox franchises to film and television, alongside consumer products, partnerships, and live experiences.
Kayleen Walters, who previously worked at Lucasfilm and Mojang, will lead the new division.
Walters highlighted her work at Mojang, where Minecraft grew from 350 million units sold to more than 425 million during her tenure.
The XP division will operate across four main areas: film and television adaptations, consumer merchandise, brand partnerships, and live events.
Microsoft paid $1.175 billion in cash to acquire Crunchyroll, which is now an independently operated joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan's Aniplex.
The Minecraft movie, the biggest movie of 2025 in the U.S., is already followed by a sequel, Minecraft Squared, in production, and a theme park opening in 2027.
Other projects include a Call of Duty movie from Peter Berg and Taylor Sheridan at Paramount, a Diablo animated series at Netflix, and Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT, which Xbox rescued after PlayStation canceled it.
Sharma emphasized in a staff memo, “Our franchises can mean more to people than the time they spend playing them.”
Walters noted, “Fans don’t just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways.”
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.
- 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.
- And XP, which is of course short for the gaming term Experience Points, will bring expert capabilities across Microsoft’s entertainment work under a unified structure.
- The video game giant announced Thursday that it is launching a new division called XP, a play on the gaming term “experience points,” that brings its various entertainment businesses outside of gaming under one roof.
- 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.
- Xbox says its games will remain at the centre of these properties, with XP working alongside its studios and external creative partners.