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MS CEO Satya Nadella says the Company had the chance to buy Minecraft before 2014

J

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
FairyEmpire said:
The game sold over 70 millions since the buyout. They got tons of money from microtransactions too. It was licensed out for other games, books, a movie is coming. It is a gold mine as far as gadgets, toys and other merchandising go. Streamers still play this insanely much, YouTube presence is as big as ever. It is a cultural phenomenon. It is being used to push technology like crossplay, Hololens and more. It inevitable sells hardware (not only consoles but other Windows 10 devices too), even more so now that Sony decided not to join the Better Together update.

Minecraft is huge, it will probably become the highest grossing game ever despite the low entry price. Anything these guys make after this will have an insane amount of publicity. And guess what, it's a brilliant Z-plan. If all else fails, announce Minecraft 2 as a launch exclusive for the new Xbox and see Microsoft win the console war before it even begins. I think most people don't quite see how big Minecraft is. It is simply insane.
Click to expand...

If all else fails you don't make it exclusive. You get it into as many hands as possible.

Look at what they did with Office for smartphones.

If all else fails, watch they make Better Together and later updates available to Sony's latest console.

I agree with what you're saying, but at the end of the day money talks...
 
A

Admodieus

Member
Minecraft is huge to them, it makes Microsoft a household name with a new generation who would otherwise just stick to mobile games and never touch an XBox or Windows.

This probably played a role in Spencer getting added to their senior advisory board.

Night.Ninja said:
Only one person on the first page mentions about Phil who kept pushing it (you know bad guy phill) Majority of other people just wanna look at the negative shit to typical neogaf

Never change
Click to expand...

Oh please, people give Phil plenty of credit. This is just confirmation to what a lot of people suspected (that Mattrick was a terrible leader whose damage to the Xbox brand is still hurting them).
 
B

Bruce Springsteen

Member
Admodieus said:
Minecraft is huge to them, it makes Microsoft a household name with a new generation who would otherwise just stick to mobile games and never touch an XBox or Windows.
Click to expand...

except that it doesn't, when people think Minecraft they don't think MS, kids actually know how to use the internet and you'll be surprised how a quick google search will get them the info that MS has nothing to do with Minecraft's creation or success.
 
S

sibarraz

Banned
Somnia said:
Before someone comes in and says "They'll never make that $2 billion back" people need to remember they used foreign money that they would never bring back to America due to taxes. That money was literally just sitting overseas, it was nothing to them.
Click to expand...

Could you explain me how does that work?
 
B

blakep267

Member
sibarraz said:
Could you explain me how does that work?
Click to expand...
Global companies make offshore profits. If Microsoft were to bring this profits back to the US and do stuff with them, they'd be taxed. So instead companies like to buy other foreign companies with those assets because if they don't it just sits there not growing. The money spent on Minecraft would've either just continued to sit there or be used on another foreign acquisition
 
C

Chris1

Member
Bruce Springsteen said:
except that it doesn't, when people think Minecraft they don't think MS, kids actually know how to use the internet and you'll be surprised how a quick google search will get them the info that MS has nothing to do with Minecraft's creation or success.
Click to expand...
not getting into this discussion but it even if it was true it wouldn't even be MS. If Minecraft was going to make the kids think of anything to do with MS, it would be just "Xbox". Not Microsoft.

Hell, I'd bet even with Xbox most people don't even think Microsoft, they just think Xbox or gaming or something like that.
 
G

g11

Member
hanspampel said:
wtf is this?
this is a personal book
not a pr statement
you tell storys and not everyone is always the good guy in those storys where you can only tell positive stuff about them

i mean you're a prime example of that
"one of those many internet trolls using unfitting bad Trump references"
Click to expand...

Easy pal.

Considering he wasn't CEO at the time and it wasn't his division, it's a a weird story to be in his personal book. If Spencer or Mattrick want to put it out there, or hell Ballmer for that matter, then fine. They are the principals of the story. As is it just sounds like him airing other people's laundry.
 
J

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Chris1 said:
not getting into this discussion but it even if it was true it wouldn't even be MS. If Minecraft was going to make the kids think of anything to do with MS, it would be just "Xbox". Not Microsoft.

Hell, I'd bet even with Xbox most people don't even think Microsoft, they just think Xbox or gaming or something like that.
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
P

peppers

Member
Mattrick's vision for the Xbox One was quite ahead of its time. There were major fuckups like feeling the need to cram all that tech into the Kinect 2 thus increasing the price above what most were willing to pay, etc.

Spencer seems to know what's up though.
 
B

Bits N Pieces

Member
g11 said:
Easy pal.

Considering he wasn't CEO at the time and it wasn't his division, it's a a weird story to be in his personal book. If Spencer or Mattrick want to put it out there, or hell Ballmer for that matter, then fine. They are the principals of the story. As is it just sounds like him airing other people's laundry.
Click to expand...

I'm sure he can talk about it in his book if he wants without having to ask Spencer or Balmer, Satya was the CEO when they bought Minecraft. Don't you want to read some context around the deal and he would know the history anyway, sitting on the advisory board already and all that.
 
W

watership

Member
Diprosalic said:
Did this turn out to be a good deal for them? I guess it was worth it bringing kids to their platform and not having them grow up only with iDevices/Android.
Click to expand...

Oh yes. It was a good deal.

In 2013, Minecraft had sold 20 million copies.
https://www.vg247.com/2013/01/22/minecraft-sales-hit-20-million-mark-for-all-platforms/

3 years later and 2 years after MS bought them, they had sold 100 million copies.
https://mojang.com/2016/06/weve-sold-minecraft-many-many-times-look/

Feb 2017? 122 Million copies.
https://www.polygon.com/2017/2/27/14755644/minecraft-sales-122m-copies
 
CaptainClaw

CaptainClaw

Member
jroc74 said:
I agree.
Click to expand...

For them to login in and purchase anything from the Store they'll be prompted to put in their Microsoft Account

When a Gamer Plays the Biggest Xbox Exclusives they get hit with the Microsoft Studio intro

When they go to Xbox.com they are hit with a Microsoft Logo

When they get digital receipts of purchases its Microsoft that contact

When an Xbox ad is played on TV it ends with a Microsoft Logo

You're definitely wrong on that one...
 
C

Chris1

Member
CaptainClaw said:
For them to login in and purchase anything from the Store they'll be prompted to put in their Microsoft Account

When a Gamer Plays the Biggest Xbox Exclusives they get hit with the Microsoft Studio intro

When they go to Xbox.com they are hit with a Microsoft Logo

When they get digital receipts of purchases its Microsoft that contact

When an Xbox ad is played on TV it ends with a Microsoft Logo

You're definitely wrong on that one...
Click to expand...
All of that is true for all MS games.

how many people think of Microsoft when they think of Halo? how many people think of Xbox when they think of Halo?

they probably know Microsoft owns xbox but that's kinda where it ends, but Xbox is pretty much it's own thing. Very few, if any, thinks of Microsoft when they think of something gaming related, they think of Xbox.
 
CaptainClaw

CaptainClaw

Member
Chris1 said:
All of that is true for all MS games.

how many people think of Microsoft when they think of Halo? how many people think of Xbox when they think of Halo?

they probably know Microsoft owns xbox but that's kinda where it ends, but Xbox is pretty much it's own thing. Very few, if any, thinks of Microsoft when they think of something gaming related, they think of Xbox.
Click to expand...

Yh maybe when it comes to games, however I was speaking in regards to when you said "I'd bet even with Xbox most people don't even think Microsoft"

and I'd say people well know Xbox is linked with Microsoft
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
Man, Don Mattrick sure looks like cancer for the Xbox brand after the shit he pulled. Remember the NFL stuff?
 
C

Chris1

Member
CaptainClaw said:
Yh maybe when it comes to games, however I was speaking in regards to when you said "I'd bet even with Xbox most people don't even think Microsoft"

and I'd say people well know Xbox is linked with Microsoft
Click to expand...

I agree they know Xbox is linked to Microsoft but that's a different question.While they know Microsoft owns Xbox and if you asked that question directly they'd answer probably but that's about where it ends.

I meant if you were to ask someone "what do you think of when I say Xbox", I don't think many people are going to say Microsoft. They will say something like Xbox, Gaming, Halo. Or whatever. I would bet "Microsoft" would be very far down the list.
 
H

hanspampel

Banned
g11 said:
Easy pal.

Considering he wasn't CEO at the time and it wasn't his division, it's a a weird story to be in his personal book. If Spencer or Mattrick want to put it out there, or hell Ballmer for that matter, then fine. They are the principals of the story. As is it just sounds like him airing other people's laundry.
Click to expand...

he also wasn't CEO, when Microsoft acquired Nokia.
so that stuff should also not be in his book? would've been a boring book with just stories about the last 3 years and no background whatsoever.

and i'm not even talking about the fact, that he was already a high level executive at that point and obviously involved in most decisions and conversations as part of the SLT. colleagues also talk about stuff in a company.


when you wirte a book feel free to do it that way you feel appropriate
 
V

Vital Tundra

Member
Lmao so Mattrick shut down the deal Phil wanted, Mattrick peaces out, and Phil proceeds with the Minecraft deal. Imagine if they would have gotten Minecraft earlier? Why would Mattrick not proceed with the deal? Anyone in the business knew how big Minecraft was and would become even more so. What a poor businessman.
 
W

Windu

never heard about the cat, apparently
Diprosalic said:
Did this turn out to be a good deal for them? I guess it was worth it bringing kids to their platform and not having them grow up only with iDevices/Android.
Click to expand...
I think from what I have read is that the 2.5 billion was just going to sit there since they wouldn't use it state side because of taxes, therefore they looked at it as how much money was that money making via interest vs. how much money Minecraft would make them. Public Business is all about short term returns so it was probably worth it for them.
 
C

Captain Tuttle

Member
Vital Tundra said:
Lmao so Mattrick shut down the deal Phil wanted, Mattrick peaces out, and Phil proceeds with the Minecraft deal. Imagine if they would have gotten Minecraft earlier? Why would Mattrick not proceed with the deal? Anyone in the business knew how big Minecraft was and would become even more so. What a poor businessman.
Click to expand...
I'm no fan of Mattrick but there's still plenty of people who think it was a terrible deal, here on GAF even
 
H

Huge Succeeded

Banned
Diprosalic said:
Did this turn out to be a good deal for them? I guess it was worth it bringing kids to their platform and not having them grow up only with iDevices/Android.
Click to expand...
Friendly reminder that there are only like two games in the entire industry that are bigger or more important than Moneycraft. I could see that game being as big or even bigger 5 years from now than it is now.
 
H

Huge Succeeded

Banned
Dr. Feel Good said:
They sold novelty hardware largely at holiday seasons. Big deal. Im convinced the only reason Kinect had moderate success was because the generation had been going for far too long and with no end in sight. Consumers were desperate for anything new. The writing was on the wall across the board about what people thought of it. Software sales were low, third party support was non existent, user engagement tanked, and Nintendo’s business model was free falling from its abandonment of core gamers. Yet Donny bet the entire Xbox One on it.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Kinects success, I boil it down to that Wii's novelty wore off and they wanted an new novelty games machine to enjoy.
 
Shpeshal Nick

Shpeshal Nick

aka Collingwood
VectorVictor said:
Ahhh...Don Mattrick, is there anything that he did competently when he was head of the XBox Division?

No...really...was there anything he did competently when he was the head of the XBox Division? Because I'm having a tough time finding something...
Click to expand...

In all fairness to Don, he was arguably responsible for the turnaround and overall success of both the 360 and Kinect.
 
J

javac

Member
Dr. Feel Good said:
They sold novelty hardware largely at holiday seasons. Big deal. Im convinced the only reason Kinect had moderate success was because the generation had been going for far too long and with no end in sight. Consumers were desperate for anything new. The writing was on the wall across the board about what people thought of it. Software sales were low, third party support was non existent, user engagement tanked, and Nintendo’s business model was free falling from its abandonment of core gamers. Yet Donny bet the entire Xbox One on it.
Click to expand...

Why does any of that matter if the end result was the kinect selling well and making them loads of money? Saying "But it only sold well because people were bored!" is another way of saying "they read the market well and knew when to strike and capitalised on a stagnant market and reaped the benefits", not every novelty item released during the holiday period is a success, there's clearly method to the madness.
 
H

Huge Succeeded

Banned
Chris1 said:
All of that is true for all MS games.

how many people think of Microsoft when they think of Halo? how many people think of Xbox when they think of Halo?

they probably know Microsoft owns xbox but that's kinda where it ends, but Xbox is pretty much it's own thing. Very few, if any, thinks of Microsoft when they think of something gaming related, they think of Xbox.
Click to expand...
No, I think you're crazy. Or at least your opinion is. Shit is like saying only enthusiasts are aware that PlayStation is a Sony product. Shit's silly.

Do you own an Xbox One? Even the visual language of the UI screams Microsoft and nothing else. And that's befor we get into just how often you actually see the words Microsoft while using an Xbox and especially playing it's exclusives.
 
F

Fularu

Banned
Collingwood said:
In all fairness to Don, he was arguably responsible for the turnaround and overall success of both the 360 and Kinect.
Click to expand...

To this day I believe Ballmer had more to do with the initial XBOX One design decisions than Mattrick who had to play ball.

Ballmer was notoriously jealous of Apple's Closed garden and Appstore and viewed the Xbox One as the normal evolution following the 360's success.
 
L

legend166

Member
I don't think Minecraft has been successful in bringing people (especially kids) to Microsoft platforms....

....but I don't think that was really the point because otherwise they wouldn't have continued to release it on every possible platform. It's going to be successful enough as its own product, especially when you add in merchandise and licencing.
 
C

CrimsonEclipse

Member
D

Dr. Feel Good

Banned
javac said:
Why does any of that matter if the end result was the kinect selling well and making them loads of money? Saying "But it only sold well because people were bored!" is another way of saying "they read the market well and knew when to strike and capitalised on a stagnant market and reaped the benefits", not every novelty item released during the holiday period is a success, there's clearly method to the madness.
Click to expand...

The difficult part around it is that Microsoft does not disclose profit by individual divisions. While it absolutely drove top line revenue for Xbox, given the historical margins on hardware in the gaming business along with the years of R&D I would be surprised if it actually drove a lot of profit to the companies bottom line. as I said software sales were fairly low aside from some key titles and there was no revenue coming in from royalties on third party software because there was no successful support (or any support for that matter).

You can’t look at a handful of certain metrics to drive your business. if they looked holistically at what was going on with the device beyond just unit volume and the overall landscape at the time they could have seen that addressing the comeback of Sony was the bigger juggernaut to address, not the blue ocean consumers that had time and time again proven they had no brand loyalty or willingness to pay in the long term.
 
C

Chris1

Member
Huge Succeeded said:
No, I think you're crazy. Or at least your opinion is. Shit is like saying only enthusiasts are aware that PlayStation is a Sony product. Shit's silly.

Do you own an Xbox One? Even the visual language of the UI screams Microsoft and nothing else. And that's befor we get into just how often you actually see the words Microsoft while using an Xbox and especially playing it's exclusives.
Click to expand...
Thats not what I said though. There's a difference between knowing what company owns Xbox/PlayStation and what you think of when you think of Xbox/PlayStation. Well I think PlayStation is more synonymous to Sony than what Xbox is to ms for obvious reasons but I still don't think it's true for PlayStation either.

When you think iPhone you think Apple for example. That's not true for "Xbox" where people will think console, games, halo, or something. I'm pretty sure there was even a thread on neogaf about this a while ago and most people said halo. Can't find it though

Yes I own an Xbox one lol. If the UI screams anything to me it's windows but I don't really think about it so I'm not sure.


When I say Xbox to you what's the first thing that pops into your head? I doubt it's Microsoft

Either way It's kinda irrelevant to the thread anyway and is kind of pointless so I won't keep going on about it
 
Harlock

Harlock

Member
One thing that bother me is open Minecraft on Android and find a lot of custom maps selling by micro transactions. I have this more idealistic image of Minecraft being a one time purchase.
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
FutureLarking said:
Worth to $2.5 billion to them? Not even close so far, but they're probably thinking it'll have human generation spanninglegs. It really doesn't do much to drag people on to their platform either considering they've put it on every platform they can, rather intentionally.

Kids don't even know it has anything to do with Microsoft.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say not even close, the game sold more than 100m units under their watch, that's practically what they spent in sales revenue only. Licensing deals for toys, games etc should make that even bigger.

And that's not even counting as having THE platform kids around the world use daily, and use that platform to teach Ms own tools.
 
U

uncledonnie

Banned
LukasTaves said:
I wouldn't say not even close, the game sold more than 100m units under their watch, that's practically what they spent in sales revenue only. Licensing deals for toys, games etc should make that even bigger.

And that's not even counting as having THE platform kids around the world use daily, and use that platform to teach Ms own tools.
Click to expand...

And the property has only increased in value. They'll never unload it of course but if they wanted to they'd likely not have much of a problem recouping what they paid.
 
G

gdt

Member
Are people here wondering if it was worth it high?



Its not even a question. Aside from the actual copies sold (120 million or whatever since the purchase) the merch is absolutely insane. Engagement, popularity, pop culture placement....etc.

It turned out to be a steal imo.
 
C

Chezzymann

Member
gdt said:
Are people here wondering if it was worth it high?



Its not even a question. Aside from the actual copies sold (120 million or whatever since the purchase) the merch is absolutely insane. Engagement, popularity, pop culture placement....etc.

It turned out to be a steal imo.
Click to expand...
Yup, with kids minecraft is just as big as star wars
 
B

BananasWithGuns

Member
gdt said:
Are people here wondering if it was worth it high?



Its not even a question. Aside from the actual copies sold (120 million or whatever since the purchase) the merch is absolutely insane. Engagement, popularity, pop culture placement....etc.

It turned out to be a steal imo.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. It was a pretty incredible acquisition from Microsoft's point of view.
 
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