• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Microsoft announces purchase of Minecraft creator Mojang

rrs

Member
I wonder how the Infiniminer guys feel about this.



Close, but no $2.5 billion dollar cigar.

It got abandoned before it could made into something more, even so Minecraft was way more developed when the popularity finally exploded
 

watership

Member
Because they are competitors. Minecraft on Playstation benefits Microsoft more than it does Sony. Take that away and it's millions of potential sales lost.

I don't think you understand how this works. Minecraft on Playstations benefits both. This is not the first time IPs owned by other console manufacturers have appeared on other devices either.

Foto+Viva+Pi%F1ata:+Pocket+Paradise.jpg
 

ConceptX

Member
I can see Microsoft giving patches in timed releases now for other platforms, get it first on Xbox One.

I still personally think that in a decade, it will be shown that they haven't made back $2.5 Billion from it, but who knows, it could go the other way, I'm still personally leaning on this being far, far, far overpriced.
 

Daffy Duck

Member
I don't get Minecraft. To me the game is fucking pointless and boring. Why spend over 2 billion on this when they could of funded literally 50 first party games????? They could of paid for a Shenmue remake AND a whole new game.

The fuck?????

The answer is in the sales numbers, you don't give a fuck about it, but MILLIONS of people do.
 

Yokai

Member
I don't think you understand how this works. Minecraft on Playstations benefits both. This is not the first time IPs owned by other console manufacturers have appeared on other devices either.

Foto+Viva+Pi%F1ata:+Pocket+Paradise.jpg
Except Microsoft did not compete in the handheld game market.
 

Nzyme32

Member
I don't get Minecraft. To me the game is fucking pointless and boring. Why spend over 2 billion on this when they could of funded literally 50 first party games????? They could of paid for a Shenmue remake AND a whole new game.

The fuck?????

The answer lies in the fact that this has very little to do with Xbox consoles or being a first party title
 

Cyd0nia

Banned
This part was most surprising to me

That is why we plan to continue to make Minecraft available across platforms – including iOS, Android and PlayStation, in addition to Xbox and PC.

Hold my hands up, people said they might take this tack but I didn't believe it! I'd expect they'll probably make their own versions the best but it's nice to see - Wii U version please MS!

MS seem the most open about platform agnosticism in the future. Not saying Xbox is going anywhere but this makes them the most open minded platform holder looking forward to the future, where dedicated hardware has question marks over it...
 
his argument about putting the game in the right hands is kinda funny. Why not just open source minecraft in ever aspect?

BECAUSE MONEY TAHT IS WHY
 

SerTapTap

Member
I don't think you understand how this works. Minecraft on Playstations benefits both. This is not the first time IPs owned by other console manufacturers have appeared on other devices either.

Not entirely comparable--Microsoft has 0 presence in handheld gaming. Plus I don't think they've done that again in quite a while, they just made some oddball games when the DS was at it's peak.

Minecraft is too big to try and lock down though. There's really no way to try and lock it to Xbox One, and even Xbox/PC only would slaughter sales. Several million people bought the super late PS3 port.
 
Very curious how MS will handle Minecraft going foreward.

You don't go out and buy a company / IP that already has that type of sell through and retails for $20 and just continue things that way.

Minecraft 2 announcement or a new monetization system must be in the works. 2.5 billion is a massive chunk of cash to earn back.
 

Despera

Banned
The answer lies in the fact that this has very little to do with Xbox consoles or being a first party title
Or fuck all with creativity or IP quality... it's all about profit generation.

Not saying Minecraft isn't a quality product, but that's beside the point.
 

Ogimachi

Member
Why post in the first place?
It was the contrast in my comment, simples as that. As in "despite being the creator of a game I dislike very much, his business decisions are extremely smart and I applaud him. He should also be able to fund even more quality projects such as Age of Wonders III without having Microsoft as a competitors, for I believe they'll drive Mojang to the ground as that's what they did to several other studios."
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
Except Microsoft did not compete in the handheld game market.

If your console is getting outsold by more than a 2:1 ratio is it really much of a competition?

It makes no sense for either MS or Sony to stop profiting off Minecraft on Sony platforms.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
When big publishers take over studios, the creative talent leaves....every time, and the future games suffer as a result.
I would be worried about this if I thought Mojang was some super-talented group of amazing developers. But no offense to the guys there, but I'm pretty sure they were always just a small group of amateur devs that struck on a single good idea and then very slowly kept it going in order to feed the cash cow.
 
Very curious how MS will handle Minecraft going foreward.

You don't go out and buy a company / IP that already has that type of sell through and retails for $20 and just continue things that way.

Minecraft 2 announcement or a new monetization system must be in the works. 2.5 billion is a massive chunk of cash to earn back.

The road is already paved I think with Minecraft Realms. I can see them moving towards a monthly subscription model with incremental updates included.
 

The Llama

Member
I have a strong feelings that development of Minecraft will be wrapped up in a few months so development of the Xbox One exclusive Minecraft 2 can start.
 

One4U

Banned
IT IS REAL. IT IS REAL.

MS, why didn't you spend 2.5 billions to buy Naughty Dog or Sucker Punch, etc in the past years?
 

Cornbread78

Member
If your console is getting outsold by more than a 2:1 ratio is it really much of a competition?

It makes no sense for either MS or Sony to stop profiting off Minecraft on Sony platforms.



They will continue to support it, but there will be a cost, MS will make sure they are profiting more from it and make back that 2.5bil. Can you imaging the board meetign around this one...
 
Whelp another great PC game I have spent hundreds of hours in is now going to be run into the ground and neglecting on the PC. Cheers Notch really appreciated.
 
It's a phenomena among kids and has a staying power that Angry Birds lacks because of the ubiquity of it's presence and the continued support and development from Mojang.

When they patch Minecraft on the 360, it's all my son's class talks about. Seriously.

It is going to make MS a boat load of money at the end of the day.
But most of the money is already made, isn't it? Well sure they own the IP but it's not like Minecraft is selling another 10 million copies anytime soon.

This isn't really going to make them that much money, this isn't going to sell consoles, people already play this mostly on Microsoft systems. The only reason I can see for this is if they want to / are making Minecraft 2, but even then that's a whole fuckload of money.
 

ZeroGravity

Member
You pretty much made my point, this is Rare 2.0 on a grander scale (possibly). There not going to recoup 2.5 Billion dollars on the original I.P. (not even remotely close) there going to want/need a sequel. There going to have to do that without the founder and possibly other developers jumping ship, I don't think a Mine craft 2 with tons of Micro transactions (this is M.S.) can strike gold again.
Notch hasn't worked on Minecraft in years and the game has still been going strong. The foundations are still there and aren't going anywhere. The non-PC versions aren't even made by Mojang and nothing catastrophically bad has happened with them. They'll be fine.
 

Madness

Member
It's essentially $2.5 billion for the Minecraft IP and whatever studio assets/presence Mojang has. So not worth it. I don't know anyone who still plays Minecraft. Even my young cousins who loved it have stopped. They could have used this money to actually invest in new IP's or other more capable studios.
 
At Microsoft, we believe in the power of content to unite people. Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms. Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise. That is why we plan to continue to make Minecraft available across platforms – including iOS, Android and PlayStation, in addition to Xbox and PC.

This is a big sigh of a relief I can breath, seeing that they have no intention in the short term to restrict Minecraft strictly to Xbox systems [personally waiting for the Vita version].

Now will we finally see Minecraft on Steam?
 
I have a strong feelings that development of Minecraft will be wrapped up in a few months so development of the Xbox One exclusive Minecraft 2 can start.

Keep dreaming.

The Xbox one will benefit from this, but its inconsequential in the larger scheme of things.

Ill keep saying this. The only way this acquisition makes any sense is if minecraft is going to be grown into a gaming platform far bigger than any gaaming franchise before it.

They didnt spend 2.5 billion to sell a couple million more Xbox ones. Its way way way bigger than that.
 

Damerman

Member
I would be worried about this if I thought Mojang was some super-talented group of amazing developers. But no offense to the guys there, but I'm pretty sure they were always just a small group of amateur devs that struck on a single good idea and then very slowly kept it going in order to feed the cash cow.
exactly this...MS just bought the brand behind a massively popular IP. It was purely a corporate move. People who expect more first party games from MS are not seeing the full picture.
 
Top Bottom