Microsoft buys Mojang(spoilers: 2 billion)

[Correction]

WSJ broke the story (google "Microsoft Near Deal to buy Mojang" to access the full article)

The deal would be valued at more than $2 billion and could be signed as early as this week, the person said. A Microsoft spokesman declined comment, as did Mojang Chief Executive Carl Manneh.

A sale would be a surprising turn for closely held Mojang, whose 35-year-old founder, Markus Persson, has shunned outside investment and is revered in the videogame community for railing publicly against big firms, including Microsoft.

Bloomberg reports that Notch has been looking to cash out and approached MS

The deal came together after Mojang founder Markus Persson reached out to Microsoft a few months ago, based on a positive working relationship on Minecraft for Xbox, said the person familiar with Microsoft.

The two companies quickly agreed on a framework and approximate price and have been working out the details since, the person said. Persson will help out with the transition, though he is unlikely to remain beyond that, according to the person.

Minecraft is worth ~$300 million annually if you combine software and merch sales and is one of the biggest gaming IPs to come along in a decade. Notch is probably choosing the perfect time to sell out and not work another day in his life, while Microsoft sinks $2 billion into what they hope can continue to be an exclusive MS property, notwithstanding that Minecraft and its clones already exist on every platform imaginable.

[Waraji]

What'ru gonna do. :shrug:

Wonder what this would mean to the modding community, practically no one plays Vanilla but peasants. Gawd, Games for Windows Live for Minecraft. Kill me now.

[Correction]

GFWL is dead, dead dead so there's no worries about that.

forgot to link the NYTimes column.

Microsoft is in advanced talks to acquire the maker of the game Minecraft for more than $2 billion, people briefed on the discussions said on Tuesday. The move was intended to ensure that one of the most popular games was available for the computing giant’s family of devices.

[Waraji]

Piece of shit still pops up whenever I load Dark Souls.

[Correction]

Well when Minecraft 2 comes out exclusively for XBox One and Windows phone you can rest easy, no GFWL requirements.

[Deftscythe]

Bet $2bn Microsoft would disallow modding and then release ripped off mod content as DLC for vanilla.

[Correction]

Bet $2bn Microsoft would disallow modding and then release ripped off mod content as DLC for vanilla.

Mods were already disallowed for every console version of Minecraft, so I suspect it's not a dealbreaker for most buyers.

[Psion]

If it means we can get an actual dev team to (gasp) fix all the bugs plus add meaningful content (make survival actually a survival game instead of "hur hur skelly archers become stronger in melee range, zombies pop out of thin air to join their buddies in nomming you, and horses are like minecarts, but 10000x cheaper and 10000 better! Oh yes, and something something 3 wool and a log gives you a spawn point anywhere you want.) then im all for it. Jeb and the others aren't impressing me with their haphazard adding of fluff and adding things from random mobs, only less balanced. Yes, minecraft is a sandbox game, but why do we have a survival mode if its just a gimped sandbox mode? Why does minecraft get laggier with each update, when a mod like better than wolves adds a ton of content while actually being less laggy than vanilla, and is as good or better than optifine?

Minecraft 2 with a better dev team, plzthx.

[Waraji]

Do you even FTB? Minecraft isn't Minecraft without the mods anymore, it just isn't.

[BaneTheBrawler]

i havent played in a long, long time. not since my guild's server went down, shortly after redstone minecart tracks were introduced and the old minecart speed boosters were nerfed.

kinda makes me wanna play now

[Psion]

Do you even FTB? Minecraft isn't Minecraft without the mods anymore, it just isn't.

I realize, hence better than wolves was mentioned. <_< IMO it totally trounces anything FTB offers, partly because everything it adds is coherent with each other, partly because it's completely balanced, definetly because its damn near bug free. (seriously, the latest bug reported after weeks was "your character sinks slightly into cake blocks, but not uncooked cake blocks." Even the mod author was like "do i even bother to fix that?"

That said, i do miss those old vanilla moments in early beta when minecraft was awesome and every new update to the game made it even more awesome. now new updates are just... meh.

[Minions]

Apparently they settled on 2.5 billion dollars.... that is a shit load of money. Supposedly will be announced Monday.

[Burningthought]

I don't understand why Microsoft would want to buy Mojang. At this point they're basically a 1-hit wonder, that company hasn't even come out with anything meaningful besides Minecraft. I doubt that the 2.5 billion dollars they invest in Mojang will be recouped with the way they're running the business. Seriously, basically 2.5billion for the Minecraft IP, I wonder what plans they have in store.

[BaneTheBrawler]

something something scrolls.

but really, minecraft is a powerful enough IP to warrant that on its own. Minecraft 2, and it's first expansion, The Blockening! Get the ubernetherdipderp pack today! Skin packs 1-20 on sale, only 9.99 each!

[Minions]

something something scrolls.

but really, minecraft is a powerful enough IP to warrant that on its own. Minecraft 2, and it's first expansion, The Blockening! Get the ubernetherdipderp pack today! Skin packs 1-20 on sale, only 9.99 each!

Notch is leaving after the sale. I wouldn't be surprised if much of the company goes their own ways after the sale. They all should be making a ton of money from the sale of the company. The purchase is basically for ownership of Minecraft. I would be surprised if "Minecraft 2" ends up being anywhere near the hit the current one is. No one wants better graphics, and without better graphics it would basically be an expansion to Minecraft 1.

Microsoft doesn't have a history of good financial decisions, or decisions in general. Just look at the nokia acquisition, microsoft surface, the zune... windows 8 "metro", the xbox one launch....

The best idea they have had of late is charging a service fee for use of office (office360). If Microsoft didn't have office/enterprise money coming in they would be bleeding money.

[BaneTheBrawler]

what gave you the idea that quality has anything to do with sales?

the difference between each Call of Duty game is, at most, an expansion. and yet every year the preteens shell out $60 for a new one. It's all about the brand, and that's what microsoft is buying.

[Waraji]

I'm also unsure what Microsoft expects to gain from this purchase. This purchase would have made sense to the informed consumer maybe 2-3 years ago. Today, it just looks more like MS is the awkward Dad trying to be into the times of their teenage daughter.

I can only be happy for Notch and the team at this point. They're going to bank so fucking hard and hopefully run off like bandits. Who knows, maybe open up another studio that makes another hit game. Rinse repeat, with maybe Google or Amazon next time.

[Qalbert]

http://notch.net/2014/09/im-leaving-mojang/

[Qalbert]

https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-...-by-microsoft/

[Quicklet]

I have a feeling Notch realized he won the lottery with Minecraft and likely will never come anywhere close to replicating that again, especially if you look at the tepid reception Scrolls has gotten. Who wouldn't want to cash in their winning ticket at that point?