Microsoft purchases Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5B

Allforce

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.

I don't even know what the point is. Shouldn't they have made this deal 3 years ago?

54 million copies of Minecraft sold to date. I'd say the bubble is due to burst at some point once this thing releases on every platform ever created (except WiiU)

The Ender

2 billion is like the money that Microsoft accidentally leaves in the vending machine slot sometimes.


They know they missed out on the Minecraft money train; they just want to absorb them before they become another serious competitor.

Archsorcerer

First Nokia, now Mojang.

MS wants Scandinavia. What's next? Rovio?

Zek

There's probably not $2 billion left to be made in selling more copies of Minecraft, though I'm not sure how much they make on DLC. The bigger question is if there's real demand for a sequel or spinoff games. I've always wanted to see what a proper AAA studio would do with the license, but naturally the fear is that they would just do something cynical and gross with it.

It would be deeply ironic given Notch's previous stance on the matter of buyouts, but I wouldn't be surprised if his more business-savvy cohorts talked him into it.

Archsorcerer

It's a deal for exclusive DLC! :P

SniperGuy

Given the absolutely massive draw that minecraft has for people of all ages, and especially kids, I am not surprised at this at all. I'm more surprised Mojang is going along with it.

I feel like Microsoft would want to lock down some of the mod scene though. Be interesting to see how that plays out.

PMAvers

I expect this to be basically like them buying Rare. They spend way too much to buy the company, and everyone who was there that actually made the games good jump ship.

Or like when they bought Bungie, and basically caused them to give their computer fanbase the middle finger.

Dragkonias

Honestly, at this point I really don't see Mojang ever being more than the "Minecraft guys" in any greater headspace.

So...whatever I guess.

Archsorcerer

Or is it about Windows 9? Free copy of Minecraft included!

PMAvers

Archsorcerer wrote: »

Or is it about Windows 9? Free copy of Minecraft included!

But requires a Gold subscription to access multi-player functions.

Buttcleft

PMAvers wrote: »

Archsorcerer wrote: »

Or is it about Windows 9? Free copy of Minecraft included!

But requires a Gold subscription to access multi-player functions.

WIndows 9 or Minecraft?

Microsoft Exectuvie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgk-lA12FBk

Darth_Mogs

I'll believe this when and if it happens. It just seems absurd to buyout Mojang now, and they've been pretty against that kind of thing from day one. I mean, "doing things our way" is basically the mantra for them, isn't it? Absolutely no way will that work out with Microsoft (or most other companies) owning you.

Donovan Puppyfucker

How many people work at Mojang now? 20?

You can be against buyouts like that until someone comes along and says they're going to give you and all of your workmates a cool hundred million dollars each.

cloudeagle

Minecraft is still a gigantic seller. It's a mainstay on the console top 10 sales.

Another crazy fact: despite the PC version's massive popularity and head-start, as of June the console versions have sold more.

Darkewolfe

My suspicion is that this is all a part of a larger strategy to grow Azure server use.

I know that the most frustrating thing for me in Minecraft, historically, has been negotiating who is responsible for the server, whether we're renting or someone is hosting, etc.

If Microsoft has built-in, "Get your cheap server on Azure" as part of the Minecraft interface, that could drive a LOT of people to their racks very quickly and increase value perception for gamers.

Edit: I mean, obviously that's not the ONLY thing. It's a valuable as fuck IP and they paid out the ass for it, but Notch wanted to sell to be free from the burdens of his successful company and MS could certainly find a way to make it happen.

Synthesis

Darkewolfe wrote: »

My suspicion is that this is all a part of a larger strategy to grow Azure server use.

I know that the most frustrating thing for me in Minecraft, historically, has been negotiating who is responsible for the server, whether we're renting or someone is hosting, etc.

If Microsoft has built-in, "Get your cheap server on Azure" as part of the Minecraft interface, that could drive a LOT of people to their racks very quickly and increase value perception for gamers.

Yeah--in the end of the day, the other companies can politely tell the console warriorz what they want to hear, but Azure potentially solves a huge number of headaches and really ups server quality for something like Minecraft, and MS has been perfectly content to push it across corporate lines.

Axen

Yeah it is easy to say you are against buyouts on some sort of moral/artistic principle, but when a dude in a snappy suit shows up on your doorstep with several dump trucks full of hundred dollar bills saying 'no' can become a lot harder.

And honestly I wouldn't blame anyone for taking the money.

I do agree with the sentiment that Microsoft is a few years too late to be buying out Mojang now. My best guess? Minecraft 2 with a much larger budget and Microsoft exclusive. Which, IMHO, has a 50/50 chance of either being really awesome or the worst thing since Hitler-AIDs.

Synthesis

Axen wrote: »

Yeah it is easy to say you are against buyouts on some sort of moral/artistic principle, but when a dude in a snappy suit shows up on your doorstep with several dump trucks full of hundred dollar bills saying 'no' can become a lot harder.

And honestly I wouldn't blame anyone for taking the money.

I do agree with the sentiment that Microsoft is a few years too late to be buying out Mojang now. My best guess? Minecraft 2 with a much larger budget and Microsoft exclusive. Which, IMHO, has a 50/50 chance of either being really awesome or the worst thing since Hitler-AIDs.

Quite possibly, but I also think that there was no "being on time" for a Mojang buy out, short of holding the hole company at gunpoint with pens handy. Even now, a potential sale is still surprising, when Minecraft's development direction has already been finalized for years (or at least it seems that way). No way would there have been an opportunity during early development, I think. Not for Mojang.

Darkewolfe

Well, the unnamed source in Bloomberg also says Notch asked Microsoft to buy, not the other way around.

He might be against corporate buyouts of vision, but he's already done Mojang. I don't think he ever wanted to run a huge company, he wants to make games. Selling Mojang and getting to start fresh probably suits him more, and apparently working with the MS team made him feel comfortable handing over the old stuff. He hasn't been working on Minecraft in a couple years anyway, sounds like.

Unknown

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Axen

To be honest I think getting their hands on the Minecraft brand is worth their money. Mojang themselves? Not so much.

Grunt's Ghosts

No, no, no! Microsoft will put their evil dirt fingers into my game and soon you'll have all sorts of legal loopholes you'd have to jump through to do mods for the game. It's disgusting and Notch won't do it. If he does, he'll never be able to show his head again in public without getting egged in the face.

Lindsay Lohan

He shouldn't sell simply because it would make me sad.

Orogogus

cloudeagle wrote: »

Minecraft is still a gigantic seller. It's a mainstay on the console top 10 sales.

Another crazy fact: despite the PC version's massive popularity and head-start, as of June the console versions have sold more.

From what I recall, the mobile version was doing about as well, or better. And it would never have occurred to me to even bother with a mobile edition. Ultimately you could make $2 billion back just re-releasing it on new platforms in perpetuity.

Darkewolfe

Aegeri wrote: »

Minecraft based minigame collections for the Kinect confirmed!

But I am genuinely wondering if this is going to happen and what effect it will have for the non-Xbox versions. If you thought the whole controversy over Tomb Raider was ridiculous....

I just don't see this happening. Microsoft doesn't have nearly the history with it as do, say, Activision.

Microsoft is very much engaged right now in trying to get people using their servers and OS's. I don't think this is at all a move to insert weird micro-transactions or something into Minecraft, it's a move to get better brand recognition for their gardens.

And having really, really easy servers for Minecraft would be something I'd love and which would probably greatly benefit the less niche community around Minecraft. People who would love to play on servers with their friends vastly outnumber people who are actually willing to put in the effort to set up a server.

Lindsay Lohan

This also seems prime for some terrible publicity for Microsoft. If they buy it, what do they do for the PS3/4/Vita versions - just stop updating them? Parents and kids that have bought them would go absolutely banananuts.

Johnny Chopsocky

Well, on the positive side, I'm sure the PS4 Minecraft adopters shouldn't have anything to worry about. While some are freaking out that "it's the end of PS4 support", this is looking like a "hey, even if they're playing on a different system, we're still getting all the sales numbers" situation.

Darkewolfe

Yeah, MS lets Sony games run on their Azure servers. I thought it was dumb at first, too, but their Xbox division is not their entire company and they don't seem inclined to let a single product line stop them from getting into business all over.

Maybe there will be some special content exclusive to MS platforms, but I don't think it'll be a plug pulling.

Synthesis

Lindsey Lohan wrote: »

This also seems prime for some terrible publicity for Microsoft. If they buy it, what do they do for the PS3/4/Vita versions - just stop updating them? Parents and kids that have bought them would go absolutely banananuts.

I doubt that's going to be the case.

Make no mistake, if Microsoft will keep updating them people would still scream holy hell about it anyway.

cloudeagle

I'm not sure... Microsoft's been a "my way or the highway" company for a while now, what with their attempt to require Kinect and requiring apps on the start screen of Windows 8 to come from the Windows app store, to name a couple examples. Plus they're in panic mode to try to correct the crap sales of the Xbox One (particularly since they announced the removal of Kinect just before a round of particularly horrible NPD numbers AND before the retailers could sell through the old consoles, which goes against the industry norm). A Minecraft II exclusive to the One would be mighty tempting in that light.

Synthesis

Microsoft's also been a "Well, this didn't work, we give up, please stop with the mail bombs already," company for a while now too, with OneDrive for Android and iOS (same for Smartglass), Skype for PS4, Silverlight across multiple platforms, removing the Kinect, etc.

I could certainly see whatever the sequel to Minecraft is being an exclusive--that's kind of common sense--but a cut-off to the existing game? I don't think that's going to happen.

RidleySaria

Sigh. This is the thing I hate about video games. Rather than spending 2 billion to make new, fantastic games they'd essentially be spending 2 billion to prevent a lot of people from playing new Minecraft stuff.

darleysam

I don't quite believe they'd spend $2bn on a franchise just to halve the market for it. There might be some funny wrangling about having Microsoft's name displayed on a Sony platform, but in all of this, I would be very surprised if they had plans to axe it from Sony hardware.

PMAvers

darleysam wrote: »

I don't quite believe they'd spend $2bn on a franchise just to halve the market for it. There might be some funny wrangling about having Microsoft's name displayed on a Sony platform, but in all of this, I would be very surprised if they had plans to axe it from Sony hardware.

It *is* Microsoft, though. 30% of their business plan runs on spite.

Radiation

Is there a reason people love exclusives?

Synthesis

PMAvers wrote: »

darleysam wrote: »

I don't quite believe they'd spend $2bn on a franchise just to halve the market for it. There might be some funny wrangling about having Microsoft's name displayed on a Sony platform, but in all of this, I would be very surprised if they had plans to axe it from Sony hardware.

It *is* Microsoft, though. 30% of their business plan runs on spite.

They need to take a hint from Sony back during the PS2--get that up to 60%, minimum.

GnomeTank

Darkewolfe wrote: »

My suspicion is that this is all a part of a larger strategy to grow Azure server use.

I know that the most frustrating thing for me in Minecraft, historically, has been negotiating who is responsible for the server, whether we're renting or someone is hosting, etc.

If Microsoft has built-in, "Get your cheap server on Azure" as part of the Minecraft interface, that could drive a LOT of people to their racks very quickly and increase value perception for gamers.

Edit: I mean, obviously that's not the ONLY thing. It's a valuable as fuck IP and they paid out the ass for it, but Notch wanted to sell to be free from the burdens of his successful company and MS could certainly find a way to make it happen.

I said this very thing. I can all but guarantee Microsoft looks at Minecraft as a multiplatform service, not a "Windows game". All the fears of "No more linux/mac/PS4 support" can be mostly put to rest. Microsoft wants to build a service ecosystem around the game, not drastically modify what the game is. That's going to mean click and go Azure server support (with a fee of course), most likely some kind of content market (likely in the mode of Dota 2 with fans making a lot of the content and keeping some of the revenue), and possibly exclusive bonus content on MS platforms.

This is not 1999 Microsoft anymore and they have no problem supporting non-MS platforms anymore. We see it pretty clearly in the professional development world, as we see Microsoft embracing technologies like Node.js and Unity, and putting a lot of money and muscle behind .NET on alternate platforms. Even the fact that you can run several Linux variants in Azure is a huge departure for Microsoft. They are very much a software and service company today, versus a pure software business who's sole goal is to sell Windows.

darleysam

It's as official as official gets:
https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/

lowlylowlycook

As huge as Minecraft is, I just can't understand the valuation given to these one hit wonder companies. I guess that given it's Lego like nature, at least Minecraft should have more staying power than Angry Birds, etc so it has that going for it.

Hopefully MS send in some engineers and put together a decent moding system so next time I'm asked to install some mods for my nephews/nieces I don't have to muck around with Forge versions again.

PMAvers

Notch's personal response is up.

I'm leaving Mojang

I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.

A relatively long time ago, I decided to step down from Minecraft development. Jens was the perfect person to take over leading it, and I wanted to try to do new things. At first, I failed by trying to make something big again, but since I decided to just stick to small prototypes and interesting challenges, I’ve had so much fun with work. I wasn’t exactly sure how I fit into Mojang where people did actual work, but since people said I was important for the culture, I stayed.

I was at home with a bad cold a couple of weeks ago when the internet exploded with hate against me over some kind of EULA situation that I had nothing to do with. I was confused. I didn’t understand. I tweeted this in frustration. Later on, I watched the This is Phil Fish video on YouTube and started to realize I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had. I’ve become a symbol. I don’t want to be a symbol, responsible for something huge that I don’t understand, that I don’t want to work on, that keeps coming back to me. I’m not an entrepreneur. I’m not a CEO. I’m a nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.

As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.

Considering the public image of me already is a bit skewed, I don’t expect to get away from negative comments by doing this, but at least now I won’t feel a responsibility to read them.

I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that. I’m also aware a lot of you were using me as a symbol of some perceived struggle. I’m not. I’m a person, and I’m right there struggling with you.

I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big. In one sense, it belongs to Microsoft now. In a much bigger sense, it’s belonged to all of you for a long time, and that will never change.

It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.

urahonky

I can fully respect that decision.