Holy shit if true.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-near-deal-to-buy-minecraft-1410300213
Microsoft Corp. is in serious discussions to buy Mojang AB, the Swedish company behind the popular “Minecraft” videogame, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
The deal would be valued at more than $2 billion and could be signed as early as this week, this person said.
Interesting.
In the long term, a billionaire Notch could be an interesting development for gaming.
God Damn. That’s one way to save the XBone. Minecraft might be the single game I can think of with enough clout to swing an entire console war.
Step 1. Criticizes Oculus harshly when they sold out to Facebook for $2B.
Step 2. Sold out to Microsoft for $2B.
Step 3. ??
Step 4. Profit!
No kidding. He’s one of the main reasons we have Age of Wonders 3.
Regarding this rumor (hey, it’s WSJ though, so I guess it’s gotta have more credibility than some Reddit thread) I wonder what this would mean for Minecraft’s future?
Minecraft 2 exclusive to Windows 8 Store and Xbox One!
No kidding. He’s one of the main reasons we have Age of Wonders 3.
I didn’t know anything about that. Was he a major investor in the development of AoW3?
I had a similar thought. Maybe he feels Microsoft is slightly better about consumer privacy…like 0.02% better?
-Todd
Honestly, I can’t imagine why Notch would accept a deal from MS like this. It’s not like he doesn’t already have more money than God. And MS will destroy Mojang as surely as they have driven Rare into the dirt. Everything about the way Mojang operates is antithetical to Microsoft’s imperatives.
Does Mojang have significant shareholder outside Notch? If he has major investors they may want to cash out irrespective of his wishes, but it seemed like Mojang grew pretty fast and never really needed outside investment.
No really a similar situation? Mojang sold games. Oculus had a kickstarter to fund an unmade product. Backers saw the sale to Facebook as kind of going “against” their backing – people claiming they wouldn’t have backed if they’d have known etc. Whereas with Minecraft, well, people have had 5 years to play the game under Mojang and they can not update if they want.
ps: I can’t imagine Notch accepting. He might accept an exclusive deal though?
Wow, that is pretty interesting. I wouldn’t mind if Notch became a 1-man investor/publisher for niche games.
-Todd
Depending on the contract he could start another company and make another game.
Or buy an island. :)
The lel?
First thing Microsoft will do, is port the game to J++, microsoft own version of java.
Then re-release the game for Windows 8.1 Service Pack 3 users.
Multiplayer will be modified to use Games For Windows Live. Login will be integrated in Passport.NET.
Users of skins will have to edit they skin to fit the policy of 50x50 pixels size.
The PC version will get mouse hardware accelaration, and integration with skype and the cloud.
The Gold Familiar Version ++ will cost 9.99$ montly, and the Deluxe Version Extra Vainilla will include slots for 4 servers and 3 characters.
The first version will introduce a bug where players that join the game from austria will corrupt the terrain, for a problem with localized strings.
They will announce Minecraft 2, that will only use spheres and will be playable from a Windows Phone using Terminal Server.
Holy shit, $2B? That can’t be right.
Maybe exclusive on the Surface!
Just imagine! ;)
Wow, Microsoft really is desperate. They’ve screwed up every game software group they’ve ever acquired before, haven’t they? They make EA look good in that regard.
I fail to see how Mojang is a strategic purchase for MS, unless they have the next Minecraft sitting in the wings. But realistically that was lightning in a bottle. They’ll never duplicate its success.
Actually the WSJ article makes a strong point, that perhaps Minecraft is an evergreen title that will last for generations like Lego. So Microsoft could monetize it with content expansions indefinitely. I guess if you look at it that way, and it’s a very optimistic stance to take, it could make some sense.
To be fair, it’s not like Mojang has a long record of great games. They have one game that’s had any legs. That game is a doozy, but MS buying Mojang is really MS buying Minecraft. They probably really couldn’t give a shit less what Mojang has outside of that title.
On NeoGAF a poster who works as a financial analyst has theorized that this report may be conflating two rumor, one old one about attempts to acquire Mojang with the enormous selling price, and a possible move by MS to acquire 4J Studios, the port house that maintains the console versions of Minecraft for Mojang. 4J makes sense for MS and you could see how someone might say something about the “maker of Minecraft for Xbox” being bought and that being misinterpreted.
That makes a lot more sense, but would be less fun to watch when it announces.