旗下的Xbox部门正着手成立一个新部门，旨在将这家游戏巨头旗下的知名IP拓展至电影、电视等其他媒体领域。
Corp.’s Xbox unit is formalizing its film and TV foray with a new division focused on expanding the video-game giant’s franchises into other media.
微软在周四发布的声明中称，这个名为“XP”的娱乐部门将助力Xbox进一步拓展在电影、电视剧、周边产品、大型活动及主题公园领域的业务。据微软透露，该部门新任负责人凯琳·沃特斯在给团队的邮件中写道：“粉丝们不仅热衷于游玩我们的游戏，还会观看相关影视作品、购买周边产品、参加各类活动，以各种方式与这些IP产生联结。”
The entertainment division called XP will grow Xbox’s footprint in film, TV, products, events and theme parks, Microsoft said Thursday in a statement. “Fans don’t just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways,” Kayleen Waters, the group’s new president, wrote in an email to her new team, Microsoft said.
此前担任微软旗下Mojang部门负责人的沃特斯，曾在卢卡斯影业工作了13年，期间还担任过该公司的IP营销副总裁。她曾担任一部大获成功的电影的执行制片人——该片上映首周末便斩获1.57亿美元票房，创下多项纪录，目前其续集也正在制作中。
Waters, who was president of Microsoft’s unit Mojang, previously worked at steward Lucasfilm for 13 years, including as a vice president of franchise marketing. She was an executive producer on the movie, which set box office records and earned $157 million its first weekend. Its sequel is in production.
同一天，微软还宣布了Mojang部门的新任负责人：此前曾在Reddit和Meta Platforms任职的玛丽亚·安吉利杜-史密斯将于本月出任该部门首席执行官。
Microsoft also on Thursday named a new head for Mojang. Maria Angelidou-Smith, who previously worked for Reddit Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., will become the unit’s chief executive officer this month.
尽管近期微软进行了大规模裁员并拆分部分工作室以聚焦核心游戏业务，但其在娱乐领域的布局野心依然不减。目前Xbox出品的电视剧大获成功：该剧在亚马逊Prime Video平台播出后，据平台统计已有1亿观众至少观看了部分剧集，目前该剧也已确定将拍摄第三季。
Microsoft’s ambitions in entertainment remain strong, after mass layoffs and studio spin-outs to sharpen the focus of its gaming arm. Xbox’s TV show has seen major success. Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, where the show airs, reported that 100 million people watched at least a little of the series, which was just renewed for a third season.
目前还有多部相关项目正在筹备中：一部以该哥特风格游戏为原型的动画剧集、一部电影，以及与知名游戏制作人小岛秀夫合作、涵盖影视版权的相关项目。此外，一座以这些IP为主题的主题公园也计划于2027年在伦敦开业。据悉，新成立的XP部门将统筹此类项目的推进工作，但它本身并不属于制作公司。
In the pipeline are an animated series inspired by the gothic game, a movie and , a project with celebrity game-maker Hideo Kojima that includes film and TV rights. A theme park is set to open in London in 2027. The new XP division will centralize efforts around such ventures but is not itself a production company.
游戏公司在吸引电视剧粉丝转向电子游戏这一全新娱乐形式方面成效参差不齐。在《最后生还者》第一季播出期间，Xbox旗下游戏在Game Pass订阅服务上的游玩时长增长了五倍；该电影上映一年后，相关游戏的周活跃用户数也增加了75%。相比之下，拳头游戏斥资2.5亿美元与Netflix合作制作的剧集却未能成功吸引大量新玩家加入游戏行列。
Gaming companies have seen mixed success enticing fans of TV shows into the completely distinct video-game medium. On its Game Pass subscription service, Xbox’s titles saw a five-fold increase in hours played as the first season of the show aired. In the year after the movie released, the game saw a 75% increase in weekly active users. Meanwhile, Riot Games’ $250 million Netflix show failed to convert many new players to the game.