Microsoft confirmed this morning that it's buying massively popular
game
Minecraft and the studio behind it, Mojang. The purchase amount is $2.5 billion.
Don't panic: Microsoft says it "plans to continue to make
Minecraft
available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC,
iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation." Though Microsoft is purchasing the
Minecraft intellectual property -- game, licensing, and any other rights involved -- it isn't getting the
game's
creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. A note from the Mojang team says,
"Notch, Carl, and Jakob are leaving. We don't know what they're
planning. It won't be
Minecraft-related but it will probably be cool" (Carl Manneh is Mojang's CEO and Jakob Porser is a co-founder).
Haven't heard of Minecraft? Frankly, we're impressed. The
game's
rise from indie darling developed by a single man -- "Notch" -- to
multi-billion dollar powerhouse has been meteoric, and highly
publicized. Not only did it pioneer a movement in the
game industry toward releasing early, unfinished games, but
Minecraft
became a massive mainstream hit. The game's iconic "Creeper" character
is a staple among both gaming's hardcore and casual mobile gamers.
Rumors of an acquisition by Microsoft
began last week,
with a rumored purchase price of $2 billion. According to those
reports, Notch approached Microsoft about a buyout. Mojang's statements
today seem to confirm that report. "He's decided that he doesn't want
the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance,"
says
Mojang's statement on the news. "Over the past few years he's made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning
Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang."
Notch's own statements are far more serious. "I don't see myself as a
real game developer," his statement leads with. He says that
Minecraft
became far larger than he ever expected, and that massive entity has
become overwhelming for him to deal with. Moreover, he's done with "big"
games forever. "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," he writes. Addressing the subject of the
buyout's price, Notch says, "It's not about the money. It's about my
sanity."
As for Microsoft, Xbox lead Phil Spencer is very excited about the deal. "
Minecraft
inspires millions to create together, connects people across the globe,
and is a community that is among the most active and passionate in the
world," he said. And for the investors in the crowd, apparently
Microsoft isn't too worried about shelling out all that cash. "Microsoft
expects the acquisition to be break-even in FY15 on a GAAP basis," the
release reads. That's to say Microsoft expects to make back the $2.5
billion it's spending on
Minecraft by July 2015. No joke!
The deal isn't finalized just yet, as it has to go through regulatory
approval and such. Microsoft's expecting that to happen in "late 2014."
14:42
