WSJ: ''Mojang to be bought by Microsoft'

Guevara said:
New York Times now too. But seriously: buy Mojang to ensure your phone gets a Minecraft port? That's nuts to me.
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I know this is an extremely simplistic(and probably missing the point :P ) way of looking at it but imagine all the games that 2 billion could be spent on developing.
 
All I want to add is that as I stated in the Rise Of The Tomb Raider exclusivity announcement thread this move (although not a hundred percent confirmed yet) along with future moves that are almost certain to come are indicative of a Microsoft that's willing to fight back against Sony by using it's primary strength which is opening its wallet and firing cash torpedoes. Microsoft stance since the original Xbox has always been to compete using their financial power and essentially out muscle other companies by pure force of financial will. Back when they started out they threw money at Sega for exclusive games. They bought Rare. Now they're backed into a corner this strategy has returned only now it's in overdrive because Microsoft is getting so consistently defeated by Sony across the world and more importantly in their previous stronghold of North America.

The real news here is to expect more financially aggressive moves like this in the near future and across this entire generation. They're fighting back and making it known.
 
It seems a bit late now that it is on every platform, but maybe they have something new planned for the IP. If they wanted it on Windows phone they could have just tossed a few million over, not buy an IP for 2 billion.
 
Guevara said:
Updated, 9:08 p.m. | 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.

...

For Microsoft, the interest in a deal is motivated in large part by a desire to ensure that attractive content is available for some of its most important platforms. Minecraft is not currently available on Windows Phone, the mobile operating system that Microsoft has struggled to turn into a strong competitor to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09...-be-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-minecraft-maker/​

New York Times now too. But seriously: buy Mojang to ensure your phone gets a Minecraft port? That's nuts to me.
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It's just an odd move... The game is already available on so many devices, it's not like they're buying exclusivity with this deal. If they wanted, they could have got the game on all their devices and services, locked up a long term marketing deal and got some form of exclusive content, for a fraction of the price.
 
Ol No Bones said:
I know Minecraft is huge but 2 billion seems to be too much for a studio even with an IP like that.
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Well it should be nearing 40 million around now.

It hit 35 million in February. This is a couple months after the PS3 release and now we have PS4 and XOne releases.

For some reference, it hit 17.5 million in December of 2012, approx. 13-14 months before it hit 35 million.

Now reading the various articles it is confusing.

According to Polygon in April, the PC version had sold 15 million, the 360 version 12 million, the PS3 version 1.5 million, and then 21 million of the cheaper pocket edition.

So those numbers would put it close to 50 million overall as of April, with roughly 28.5 million of the full priced version and 21 million of the pocket version.

I think that the PC/console versions retail for 20 dollars each, and the pocket edition is like 5 or 6 bucks. In addition they have been selling theme and skin packs at only 99 cents, and I have no idea how well those sell. And this is all before the XOne and PS4 editions were released, and the retail versions of the console game have continued to do gangbusters in the UK and US at least with no sign of slowing.

That plus someone mentioning 200 million in Merch sales last year, leads me to believe that Minecraft is not only still viable, but could really justify that 2 billion dollars. And that is just vanilla Minecraft, and not Majong itself, Minecraft 2 or anything else they may currently be working on.
 
I would do it if I was Notch. Mojang hasn't managed to have another hit and may never. Billions is a lot of money and he can just fund another indie studio and work on stuff regardless.
 
Wow so looks like it will happen. Guess they want all that merch sales and IP ownership for a sequel. Doubt the Mojang staff is as important. 4J is probably who they would turn to for a proper sequel.
 
Ghost_Messiah said:
The real news here is to expect more financially aggressive moves like this in the near future and across this entire generation. They're fighting back and making it known.
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By acquiring a game that's already on a rival platform?
If this move happened a few months ago then I would get it.
This is baffling.

However, if they announce Minecraft 2 in a press release tomorrow then it makes a whole lot more sense...
 
I'm kind of surprised that Notch approached Microsoft with this deal tbh. With the article shredding this new light, I atleast feel slightly better about the whole deal. I'm not really a Minecraft guy so I would prefer that the 2 billion go towards new IPs for Xbox instead.

However, it is clear that this is not only about Xbox, but all Microsoft platforms. It may not be what we all would love that money to be dedicated to as mostly "hardcore" gamers on a gaming forum, however, it seems to be a great business move in terms of possibly strengthening Microsoft brands greatly if the IP Is handled correctly.

Minecraft is the highest selling new IP of all time and the number of people playing it grows to this day, so regardless of our personal tastes this is a great move for them and may potentially lead to a new audience being interested in Xbox One if that is the only console where you could play a "Minecraft 2."
 
Loch Doun said:
By acquiring a game that's already on a rival platform?
If this move happened a few months ago then I would get it.
This is baffling.
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If you see MC as a platform then I think it makes sense. Every 5 years they'll release a new game and have it sell million s
 
This has probably come up in the thread before, but the educational purposes of Minecraft also seem to be growing. If Microsoft puts that in every classroom...*print all the money*

The whole point of this sale would be to turn Minecraft into a ubiquitous platform, available on absolutely everything. And I mean everything.
 
Loch Doun said:
By acquiring a game that's already on a rival platform?
If this move happened a few months ago then I would get it.
This is baffling.
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Well the Bloomberg article said they wanted it on rival platforms?

I would guess if MS were unhappy with Minecraft releasing on Playstation they'd have just told them to stop it and paid a hefty fee for it to avoid breach of contract or being sued?

As it is, they didn't mind? It does suggest Phil Spencer was key in the workings, although the NYTimes article doesn't mention any of that, admittedly
 
boredandlazy said:
I know this is an extremely simplistic(and probably missing the point :P ) way of looking at it but imagine all the games that 2 billion could be spent on developing.
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Why make many new games when it's so much easier to buy one and then prevent that game from selling to its full audience?

It will be interesting to see how this develops. The appeal of Minecraft was partly its independence. If it becomes a cannon in the console war it will lose lots of fans. I think its very vulnerable to becoming obsolete from a better world crafting game too, or just people losing interest like so many genres before it.

I don't think its going to do what Microsoft thinks it is. They have a bad history with ruining the this parties they buy...
 
RespectThySole said:
I'm kind of surprised that Notch approached Microsoft with this deal tbh. With the article shredding this new light, I atleast feel slightly better about the whole deal. I'm not really a Minecraft guy so I would prefer that the 2 billion go towards new IPs for Xbox instead.

However, it is clear that this is not only about Xbox, but all Microsoft platforms. It may not be what we all would love that money to be dedicated to as mostly "hardcore" gamers on a gaming forum, however, it seems to be a great business move in terms of possibly strengthening Microsoft brands greatly if the IP Is handled correctly.

Minecraft is the highest selling new IP of all time and the number of people playing it grows to this day, so regardless of our personal tastes this is a great move for them and may potentially lead to a new audience being interested in Xbox One if that is the only console where you could play a "Minecraft 2."
Click to expand...
If Minecraft 2 came out exclusively for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone tho... Who would play it? I feel like everyone would just stick with Minecraft 1 to be honest.
 
Natureboy99 said:
Why make many new games when it's so much easier to buy one and then prevent that game from selling to its full audience?

It will be interesting to see how this develops. The appeal of Minecraft was partly its independence. If it becomes a cannon in the console war it will lose lots of fans. I think its very vulnerable to becoming obsolete from a better world crafting game too, or just people losing interest like so many genres before it.

I don't think its going to do what Microsoft thinks it is. They have a bad history with ruining the this parties they buy...
Click to expand...

The 8 year old w/ a minecraft shirt doesn't give two craps about the "console war."
 
From that Bloomberg article, it sounds like nothing will really change in terms of platforms. Minecraft will still be available on rival platforms. If I'm reading this correct (and if I am, I'm impressed with Microsoft here), Microsoft is acting as a third-party publisher in this case. The only change is Microsoft reaps the benefits of all the sales. I'm curious if this is due to Mojang puting a clause in the contract that Minecraft mustn't be removed from rivals or if MS realizes that making Minecraft XBOX exclusive would have cut out a lot of potential revenue.
 
Naughty_Doge said:
So, is Notch leaving after the deal is done?
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BronsonLee said:
Highly unlikely he would be able to leave immediately after.
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shockingly, he might be leaving pretty soon

While Mr. Persson is said to accept that he may not stay for more than six months if a deal is struck, Mojang is pressing to try to ensure that Microsoft retains its younger developers.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09...-be-in-advanced-talks-to-buy-minecraft-maker/​

This would be extremely bone-headed by Microsoft
 
Steverulez said:
Of course not but if the deal is done and you've got some bad news coming up why not use it? I don't expect MS to sit on this news for long but I was just speculating, theres obviously a long game here
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I just doubt they have bad news as far as NPD is concerned. I am sure Diablo 3 and Madden did well for them, but none of their limited edition consoles came out and there were no exclusives. Nobody is expecting much out of anyone for August, outside of Sony winning handily. It will be another mediocre to disappointing month, but nothing extreme.

September, should be big, especially for Sony with the Destiny bundle, and their exclusive marketing.

October could be a bit closer with the release of Sunset Overdrive and the XONE.

November will be super telling, and is probably the most important month of this generation. MS will have the COD bundle plus Halo, and the Sunset Overdrive bundle will just be a few days on market at he beginning of the month. That will be interesting.

Sorry If I just turned this into an NPD thread. I am not sure how we got here.
 
MilesTeg said:
One of the articles claims he won't be around long after the deal is done though.
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Maybe Notch wants to move on to a different style of Game and in the end came away with a nice chunk of Money to fund it. I could see him start a complete new studio and do it leisurely.
 
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