Minecraft appoints Reddit's former product chief to lead the game
Maria Angelidou-Smith is joining Microsoft as Minecraft's new boss after serving as Reddit's chief product officer for less than a year. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma cited her experience with large community platforms, technical background, and understanding of how creator needs, product decisions, technology, and revenue models interact. Angelidou-Smith previously spent nearly a decade at Meta, and her first priority will be learning from Minecraft's teams and communities.
Maria Angelidou-Smith is moving from Reddit to Microsoft to oversee Minecraft. Before Reddit, she spent close to ten years at Meta, where she managed Facebook Groups, a product used monthly by over 1.8 billion people, along with Events, Creators, Search, Profile, and Monetization. She later directed product and technology at Personio.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the job calls for someone experienced in building community products at massive scale, technically skilled, and able to connect creator needs with product, technology, and revenue decisions. Angelidou-Smith's opening focus will be learning from Minecraft's teams and communities.
The appointment may shape how Minecraft's community features, creator tools, and monetization evolve, affecting players, creators, and Microsoft's gaming strategy. Because the game relies on large communities, changes to social features or monetization could influence how players and creators interact and earn. Still, the immediate effect may be limited while the new leader learns from existing teams and communities; any impact would depend on later decisions.