In a new memo (as reported by Variety), Walters said, “XP was created from a simple but powerful belief: the world’s most beloved gaming franchises have an opportunity to reach people far beyond the boundaries of the game itself. Fans don’t just play our franchises. They watch them, wear them, attend them, celebrate them, and connect with them in countless ways. XP brings together the teams responsible for helping Xbox franchises show up in the world in bigger, more meaningful ways.”

Chief strategy officer Matthew Ball has outlined the four areas the division would focus on. Xbox Pictures brings “our worlds and characters to new audiences through film, television, and other forms of linear storytelling.” Xbox Products is about “creating products that are authentic to the fandom that allow fans to celebrate and express the franchises they love,” which sounds more like merchandising.

Xbox Places focuses on “live events, immersive experiences, attractions, broadcasts, and destinations” while Xbox Partnerships entails sponsorships, brand partnerships and working with communities/creators for “new experiences.”

While it’s tempting to mock Xbox for pursuing this direction again, the circumstances are quite different. A Minecraft Movie and Amazon’s Fallout series have been massive successes, and other adaptations in the works include Call of Duty and Gears of War films, and an animated Diablo series. Xbox also tied up with Kojima Productions for the film and TV rights to Physint (besides publishing the game), and you have to assume something similar is planned for the horror game OD.

How far can it go, especially as the company pushes to launch follow-ups to its biggest franchises, like Fallout, more quickly? Time will tell, so stay tuned for updates.

This weekend all the way until July 5th you will have the opportunity to gain 21x the normal experience in Gears of War 2.   This is once again an obvious event where Epic is trying to tell it’s fans that in Gears of War 3, you will get something pretty damn cool for being rank 100 in Gears 2. For the 4th of July, you will also get 4-times the normal amount of ammunition for the Hammer of Dawn and the mortar so you can make some fireworks happen in Gears, just in case there is nothing going on around where you live.

If you want to get super detailed on how much XP you can gain here are more specific details even down to the modes:

Game type Percentages:
– Warzone 1.00
– Annex 0.23
– KOTH 0.26
– Submission 0.49
– Guardian 0.66
– Execution 0.96
– Wingman 1.15

Use this calculator to figure out how much XP you will need to get to a certain level.

Ok, now Epic is basically just handing you over XP to get you to level 100, because as everyone knows, you will get something special in Gear of War 3 for being level 100 in Gears 2.  The times 31 xp multiplayer event begins October 29(today!) through Monday, November 1. Happy Halloween from Epic Games!

• Multiplayer Poker and Liars’ Dice Games — One of the most fan-requested features comes to multiplayer.
• Multiplayer Horse Races — Ride out against your friends and foes online – with mounted combat guns blazing.
• The Explosive Rifle — A devastatingly destructive new weapon with its own new single-player and multiplayer challenges.
• 7 New Gang Hideouts — Posse up and take on the new Hideouts together to level up quickly.
• 4 New Hunting Grounds — New Hunting Grounds are now visible on the map for all to see, with some of the most action-packed wildlife hunting yet.
• Stronghold Competitive Multiplayer Mode — Teams take turns in attack and defense in multi-tiered Competitive games.
• Posse Scoring and Leaderboards — Compare stats with other posses and compete to see who are the kings of the Free Roam frontier.
• Plus, 15 additional multiplayer characters from the Red Dead Redemption storyline are being made available as multiplayer characters, and more all-new Achievements and Trophies.