Microsoft in talks to buy Mojang, Minecraft Xbox and PC only?

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Microsoft is in talks to acquire Minecraft studio Mojang AB for $2 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The latter claims that the buy-out was initiated by Markus "Notch" Persson, who will leave the company once the deal is completed - possibly as early as this week.

It's a bit of a shocker, needless to say. Notch has been critical of Microsoft in the past, but has apparently warmed to the company after collaborating to release Minecraft on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. He allegedly reached out to Microsoft "a few months ago", and enjoys a "close relationship" with head of Xbox Phil Spencer. According to one Bloomberg source, Notch will stay on to supervise the transfer of ownership but is "unlikely" to have any involvement beyond that.


Minecraft is now available on PlayStation consoles too, of course. One possible outcome of the acquisition is that Minecraft development will only continue on Xbox platforms and PC, though this would presumably contravene Mojang's agreements with Sony as regards on-going support.

Microsoft may not want to make the game an exclusive, either. Another of Bloomberg's contacts "with knowledge of Microsoft's thinking" suggests that "the company thinks that this kind of product, like its Office productivity software, has to be available with high-quality versions for multiple platforms, including those of its rivals".

Neither Mojang nor Microsoft is available for comment at the time of writing. I'll let you know when I hear more.



Posted:
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.totalxbox.com/81065/is-minecraft-about-to-go-xbox-and-pc-only-microsoft-in-talks-to-buy-mojang-claims-report/

Comments

"Microsoft in talks to buy Mojang, Minecraft Xbox and PC only?" :: Login/Create an Account :: 94 comments

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BCWPosted:

FOV If Microsoft does buy this, they're probably going to start letting you buy supplies, charging you like $5 per 64 stack of diamonds in survival unless you find them manually.. watch.


Yeah, that's a possibility. They can be $$$ whores. Let's hope they don't; because they bought MC.

RIPERINO

BCWPosted:

Be better if they bought PlayStation too. At least they have bought MC.

AchePosted:

Zips
Ache I'm not sure how Notch will react to this, but I really hope he doesn't sell it to Microsoft.

I know if I was offered 2bil for something I created I would most likely take it to be honest... I mean, c'mon it's 2BIL!


2 billion, you could never spend that in a lifetime! Unless you invested in business or something idk


Looks as if he accepted it and ran off with 2.5 billion dollars... Such a lucky man.

He's most likely going to buy a giant house, nice car, and develop more games... Oh wait, he already has and does all that. ._.

21Posted:

FOV If Microsoft does buy this, they're probably going to start letting you buy supplies, charging you like $5 per 64 stack of diamonds in survival unless you find them manually.. watch.


I actually wouldn't be surprised by this, another ploy for them to make money.

I wouldn;t be surprised if MS made MC an XB1/PC exclusive and removed it completely from Sony consoles. In fact, it wouldn't even surprise me if MC became exclusive to XB1 XB360, or even just the XB1 so that MS can squeeze people out of even more money. They'll probably start charging for stupid in game stuff and maybe even add stupid DLC and charge a fortune for it.

EthicsPosted:

Zips
Ache I'm not sure how Notch will react to this, but I really hope he doesn't sell it to Microsoft.

I know if I was offered 2bil for something I created I would most likely take it to be honest... I mean, c'mon it's 2BIL!


2 billion, you could never spend that in a lifetime! Unless you invested in business or something idk


If you gave me 2 billion to try and spend I bet you I could spend it in a day lol. I would buy the biggest mansion on the biggest island in the world. Then I would invest in super servers for ttg.

ZipsPosted:

Ache I'm not sure how Notch will react to this, but I really hope he doesn't sell it to Microsoft.

I know if I was offered 2bil for something I created I would most likely take it to be honest... I mean, c'mon it's 2BIL!


2 billion, you could never spend that in a lifetime! Unless you invested in business or something idk

AchePosted:

I'm not sure how Notch will react to this, but I really hope he doesn't sell it to Microsoft.

I know if I was offered 2bil for something I created I would most likely take it to be honest... I mean, c'mon it's 2BIL!

FOVPosted:

If Microsoft does buy this, they're probably going to start letting you buy supplies, charging you like $5 per 64 stack of diamonds in survival unless you find them manually.. watch.

AstronautsPosted:

It'll suck if it goes through and PS users dont get it anymore lol.

tellPosted:

Mojang on there own is good enough, don't see why they would sell themselves to Microsoft.
Seriously.