Maria Angelidou-Smith will join Xbox as CEO of Mojang and Minecraft on October 19. Xbox announced the appointment in an internal memo published by Xbox Wire, placing a former Reddit and Meta product executive in charge of the studio behind Minecraft.
The appointment centers on community products
Xbox said its search focused on experience with large communities, technical products and creator ecosystems. Angelidou-Smith spent nearly a decade at Meta, where her remit included Facebook Groups, Events, Creators, Search, Profile and Monetization. The announcement says Facebook Groups served more than 1.8 billion people each month during her tenure.
She later led product and technology at Personio and served as Reddit’s chief product officer. Those roles give the appointment a clear product-and-platform emphasis, but Xbox did not announce a change to Minecraft’s development roadmap, release schedule or business model. The stated first priority is narrower: Angelidou-Smith is expected to learn from Mojang’s teams and Minecraft communities.
Mojang’s existing development team remains in place
The memo describes Mojang as having an established game development team that already understands Minecraft and its players. It frames the new CEO’s job around the broader community that plays, builds, creates, teaches, watches, modifies the game, operates servers and runs related businesses.
That wording matters because the appointment concerns both a game studio and a platform with creators, marketplaces and community-run spaces. It does not, by itself, confirm new features or policy changes. Any effect on moderation, monetization, server tools or creator programs will need separate announcements from Mojang or Xbox.
The move follows a second Xbox leadership change
Angelidou-Smith succeeds Kayleen Walters, who is moving from Mojang to lead XP, a new Xbox division for film and television adaptations, licensed products, partnerships, events and location-based experiences. Xbox said both executives will report to its leadership.
For Minecraft players, the immediate facts are the October 19 start date and the leadership handoff. The official announcement offers no patch details, platform changes or content dates, so it should not be read as a product reveal.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Primary source: Xbox leadership announcement
- Official media source: Minecraft official overview
