WSJ: ''Mojang to be bought by Microsoft'

King Beyond the wall said:
If minecraft 2 ever came out it would be on the Xbox, so Microsoft are basically paying $2 billion to stop playstation owners from playing it. There is no way that this can be true as it would be an enormous waste of money, or if it is then Phil Spencer has lost his mind.
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If there is 2 billion dollars being spent, it's not Phil doing the spending.

outunderthestars said:
Which is what makes it an insane purchase, if true.

For reference, MS spent $30 million or so to buy Bungie and the Halo IP.
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Yeah this whole thing is crazy. You could buy Take Two in it's entirety for that kind of money.
 
MS wouldn't be able to stop a Minecraft sequel from breaking records even if they tried to sabotage it. Then you start thinking about how much more the brand can expand, and it starts to get scary.
 
BadWolf said:
If I were an X1 owner I would be pissed, they can make a shit ton of AAA games with 2 freaking billion.
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Well, as an Xbox One owner, I suspect this isn't likely a strictly Xbox acquisition and I doubt this is instead of any other investments.

As I said earlier, MS got plenty announced, I won't be running out of things to play in a hurry
 
MS is always stuck in the past, buying Mojang now instead of many years ago, allways closing their eyes to PC and arriving late at the party.
 
Sponge said:
Don't even joke. Donkey Kong Country was insane when it came out. The gameplay maybe have not been what pulled people in, but the graphics sure did. They basically saved the SNES.

If anything, buying Mojang is an even worse investment because they've made a one hit wonder and not much else.
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Donkey Kong Country sold well, but not nearly as well as Minecraft. It'd ludicrous to consider them in the same league as "mega hits".
 
I love Minecraft, but I personally think Mojang had a one hit wonder with Minecraft.
It's already on every platform.
I'm not sure it was the best purchase by Microsoft.
 
If so, wouldn't they be a bit late on this? Mojang has yet to prove itself to be anything but a one hit wonder, and Minecraft is already available on just about every platform.
 
Man-is-Obsolete said:
The only way it makes sense is if Microsoft is trying to own the sequel, which I am not even sire is needed for a game like this.
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On PC isn't needed.
 
Amir0x said:
What about it makes no sense?


1. Minecraft is one of the biggest new IPs in years. It's one of the most talked about games period.
2. Minecraft helps leverage an audience Microsoft has traditionally had trouble gaining - children.
3. Minecraft comes with tons of associated merchandising possibilities.
4. Minecraft comes with very easy crossover potential; Halo skins, Banjo skins, Conker skins, etc.
5. Minecraft 2.0 would not be a sequel that would take a terribly long turnaround time to develop if they were serious about it, so they can start to leverage the deal for future purposes relatively quickly if they wanted to.

I'm not saying it's true, I don't know. I think it's fucked up and illustrates well why Microsoft has earned the scorn of so many gamers. But as a business strategy, I can see the clear reasons why.
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Your last few posts seem to have drifted into "Microsoft's only play is to fuck with everyone else" territory. I think you ended up concluding the real scenario though: it's not a bad business strategy.

In a time where games are incredibly expensive to make (and where the name on the box often matters more than what the game contains), buying or securing exclusivity deals for already successful IP is not a bad business strategy. Some people may carry "scorn" over such practices, but I doubt they are anything but the isolated minority that cares enough about how these deals go down. The average person probably isn't going to know or care. In the end it's just business conducts, so I can't find a reason for me to either boo or cheer them on. It goes without saying, of course, that these companies aren't in it to win the hearts of the isolated minority, but the wallets of the masses.

Even if Microsoft spent these supposed 2 billion on creating their own Minecraft, it still wouldn't become the next Minecraft.
 
Ferrio said:
Valuable IP sure... 2 billion valuable? Uhhh
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But what keeps it from being a $2B franchise? Again...including merchandising, licensing, it's overall value.

I see that it's valued pretty accurately, myself. Inflated a bit, of course, but for reasons of sweetening the buy-out.
 
Kenak said:
If so, wouldn't they be a bit late on this? Mojang has yet to prove itself to be anything but a one hit wonder, and Minecraft is already available on just about every platform.
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I'm sure they just want the Minecraft ip. Anything new mojang make would be a bonus. Just putting a 2 at the end of Minecraft would sell a shit load.
 
protomouse said:
Your last few posts seem to have drifted into "Microsoft's only play is to fuck with everyone else" territory. I think you ended up concluding the real scenario though: it's not a bad business strategy.

In a time where games are incredibly expensive to make (and where the name on the box often matters more than what the game contains), buying or securing exclusivity deals for already successful IP is not a bad business strategy. Some people may carry "scorn" over such practices, but I doubt they are anything but the isolated minority that cares enough about how these deals go down. The average person probably isn't going to know or care. In the end it's just business conducts, so I can't find a reason for me to either boo or cheer them on. It goes without saying, of course, that these companies aren't in it to win the hearts of the isolated minority, but the wallets of the masses.

Even if Microsoft spent these supposed 2 billion on creating their own Minecraft, it still wouldn't become the next Minecraft.
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If their strategy is so good why doesn't it work?
 
I hope this is false. Minecraft is already available across multiple platforms other than Xbox, and it would probably lower sales of the game if they did keep it exclusive.

Mojang should stay third party, they will make a lot more money in the long run.
 
The valuation is surprising, but consider that Microsoft reportedly has $76billion in cash overseas that are invested in very low yielding securities. Bringing the cash back to the states would involve taxes on their overseas profits. From an opportunity cost perspective, the deal makes a lot of sense. The same rational was used in the Skype and Nokia purchases.
 
What happened to Notch saying he would eventually release Minecraft under a public domain? If this is true I honestly don't think this is better than them actually spending the money to build IPs themselves.
 
immortal-joe said:
MS wouldn't be able to stop a Minecraft sequel from breaking records even if they tried to sabotage it. Then you start thinking about how much more the brand can expand, and it starts to get scary.
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People keep saying this as if it was a guaranteed fact. I just don't think one can be so sure.

Remember when the Wii sold over 100 million consoles and the DS sold over 150 million handhelds? How has that brand expansion worked out for them?

Remember when Guitar Hero 3 broke 1 billion dollars in sales?

Tastes change and fads, by definition, are hard to recognize until they are over.
 
FYI, 2 billion would have almost certainly been enough to purchase the entirety of Take Two (i.e. Rockstar and GTA) in 2012 and 2013.
 
Kenak said:
If so, wouldn't they be a bit late on this? Mojang has yet to prove itself to be anything but a one hit wonder, and Minecraft is already available on just about every platform.
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They likely don't care about Mojang itself, it's Minecraft they are after. I've never played the game myself, but I imagine they can make tons of money by selling little add-on packs and merchandising. Then an inevitable sequel.
 
Freeman said:
If their strategy is so good why doesn't it work?
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Who says it doesn't? They have a lot more going against them, but I don't think these kinds of things are part of it. The 360 was successful, the Xbox One not so much compared to the competition thus far. It has more to do with how they've launched the console than anything else.
 
minecraft is like crack for my 10 year old nephew, you could add a hat to the creeper called it minecraft 2 and he will be there day one. personally i dont understand, but im old.
it's scary.
 
Well, luckily i was NOT a fan of Minecraft or else I would be pissed off at this deal. This game should not be exclusive to Microsoft. They're losing the war with Sony, that's why they're trying to lure fans by buying Minecraft.
 
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