Minecraft has a new leader at its helm: Maria Angelidou-Smith, who joins Microsoft from Reddit, where she most recently served as chief product officer. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced the appointment, emphasizing Angelidou-Smith's proven track record in developing products for large-scale online communities.
Sharma highlighted Angelidou-Smith's unique blend of technical expertise and community-focused product development. "We wanted someone who has built products for communities at enormous scale, who is deeply technical, and who understands how creators, product, technology, and monetization come together," Sharma stated in an Xbox Wire post. "Maria brings a rare combination of those experiences."
Angelidou-Smith's previous roles include a decade at Meta, where she led initiatives for Facebook Groups, which garnered over 1.8 billion monthly users. She also held leadership positions for Facebook Events, Creators, Search, Profile, and Monetization. Prior to her time at Reddit, she led product and technology at Personio, another company focused on community platforms.
According to Sharma, Angelidou-Smith possesses a deep appreciation for what makes Minecraft unique. Her initial focus will be on engaging with the teams and the Minecraft player base to understand the game's core elements from those who know it best. "She has built products used by billions of people and led product and engineering organizations through significant growth and change," Sharma added. "Her first priority will be learning from the teams and communities who know Minecraft best."