Minecraft Developer Mojang Appoints Former Meta and Reddit Executive as CEO

Minecraft studio Mojang is seeing a shift in leadership as part of a wider restructuring within the Xbox division. Maria Angelidou-Smith has been named the new CEO of Mojang, stepping into the role previously held by Kayleen Walters. This transition is part of a larger organizational change at Microsoft that has included 3,200 layoffs and significant management shifts across its gaming wing.

A Background in Social Platforms

Angelidou-Smith joins the Minecraft team with a history rooted in social media and product development rather than traditional game design. Her previous experience includes an eight-year tenure at Meta, where she worked on app monetization and managed Facebook Groups and Dating initiatives. Most recently, she served as the chief product officer at Reddit, a role she held since November of last year.

Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, outlined the strategy behind this hire in an internal memo, emphasizing the need for leadership capable of handling massive, community-driven platforms. According to Sharma, the goal was to find an individual who understands the intersection of technology, creators, and monetization at a significant scale. Angelidou-Smith’s stated priority is to engage with and learn from the existing development teams and the established Minecraft community.

Moving Focus to Franchising

The former Mojang CEO, Kayleen Walters, is not leaving Microsoft. Instead, she has moved to a new position as president of XP, an Xbox division focused on expanding its intellectual properties beyond gaming, such as licensing, television, and film. This move follows her successful tenure at Mojang, where she reportedly oversaw over 250 licensing deals and served as a producer on the recent A Minecraft Movie and its upcoming sequel.

Why it matters

For the millions of Minecraft players worldwide, this leadership change signals a potential shift in how Mojang balances its creative roots with long-term product growth. While Mojang has retained a distinct identity that has largely avoided the aggressive monetization models found in competitors like Roblox, the appointment of an executive with a background in social media monetization, app growth, and user retention has sparked debate within the community.

Players should keep an eye on how the game’s service models and community interaction features evolve under this new management. While Microsoft has not announced any specific policy changes, the focus on ‘monetization’ and ‘scale’ mentioned by Xbox leadership suggests that the future of the blocky sandbox may lean more heavily into its status as a massive social platform.