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Microsoft announces purchase of Minecraft creator Mojang

Congrats to Notch and team, wow. But damn that seems like a biiig waste of money, or maybe I'm blind to it seeing as Minecraft doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

Is this the most ever spent to buy an IP?
 
Jomjom said:
That graphic also shows why MS would probably be ok forgoing Playstation for an eventual MC2. After being out for all this time it's only sold 3 million on PS3 with a userbase of over 80 million. If MS thought that they would roughly make up the difference from losing the PS userbase with the new users who would pick up an Xbox for MC2, it would make sense to make it exclusive to Xbox on console.
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The assumption there being that Microsoft has no notion of how to make projections for the current 3 million for different platforms and shifting market shares.

Which certainly isn't the case.
 
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Lol I love that one xD
 
KingSnake said:
I still don't understand the reasoning for this deal from Microsoft side. Unless it's about tax evasion or something.

In which case I don't think Sweden is the place to go for lower taxes.
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Apparently they had/have a lot of offshore money which wasn't doing much just sitting there.
 
I just thought about something, Microsoft will definitely make a Minecraft XBO bundle. There won't be any PS4,VITA,PS3 bundles.... a bundle for VIta could have been huge for Sony. :/
 
Stimpack said:
Well this will certainly sell Windows 9. They should probably think about taking the thing off of Java.
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The best thing to come out of this is probably the PC version moving to Direct X and off Java. Sure modders will take the hit but hopefully that stuff is allowed in the future.

Also I guess at some point Mojang will take over console development from 4J studios once Minecraft 2 is announced. (Or MS just buys 4J and calls them Mojang Scotland because that would be a drop in the pan all things considered)
 
Kosma said:
This is so stupid from MS.

Minecraft has already peaked.
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Truth, but MS is still building their 'we're all about games' sort of mantra, also Mojang's kind of got that cool, consumer friendly feel to it, Notch and those other guys who work there being who they are. Also I'm sure Mojang has future projects which are also going to be fairly successful.(again though, agreed, never gonna outdo Minecraft)
 
hawk2025 said:
The assumption there being that Microsoft has no notion of how to make projections for the current 3 million for different platforms and shifting market shares.

Which certainly isn't the case.
Click to expand...
Honestly, it shouldn't be very difficult to recognize that there is a significant potential for value. One version has been out for around 28 months and sold 12 million copies. The other has been out for around eight months and sold three million copies. I have no idea what the poster you quoted meant when saying, "After being out for all this time it's only sold 3 million on PS3 with a userbase of over 80 million." The statement literally makes no sense.
 
I fear for the Linux version (the only version my kid has to play). :)

It's the one version that never gets mentioned in any of the statistics, press releases etc. And MS's track record isn't fantastic in that regard (looking at Skype which is suffering from benign neglect).
 
Beautifully Shaped Monsters said:
I fear for the Linux version (the only version my kid has to play). :)

It's the one version that never gets mentioned in any of the statistics, press releases etc. And MS's track record isn't fantastic in that regard (looking at Skype which is suffering from benign neglect).
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Well yeah... when it's an OS that has around 1% usershare... it's not at all worth mentioning.
 
Beautifully Shaped Monsters said:
I fear for the Linux version (the only version my kid has to play). :)

It's the one version that never gets mentioned in any of the statistics, press releases etc. And MS's track record isn't fantastic in that regard (looking at Skype which is suffering from benign neglect).
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Me too. Only version which works correctly on my laptop.
 
Holographix said:
Does anybody else see Minecraft as one title wonder? As in nobody cares for a sequel as the first game IS the franchise? All this talk about Minecraft 2 etc. I'm not seeing a sequel being very successful, especially under Microsoft.
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It'll do good numbers for sure if it's an actually well made game, but it won't match the success of the first one in all likelihood. If it's PC/Windows Phone/Xbox One then it will still pull good numbers. I don't think this acquisition is worth it, but time will tell.
 
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Minecraft: ‘It’s the one game parents want their kids to play’

"If you talk about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education, the best way to introduce anyone to STEM or get their curiosity going on, it's Minecraft ... So I think what this open-world phenomenon will mean to the community at large, for people who builders, is pretty big, and we are very excited about the acquisition, obviously."
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Link

Interesting take on this whole thing.

Thread worthy?
 
Choomp said:
Truth, but MS is still building their 'we're all about games' sort of mantra, also Mojang's kind of got that cool, consumer friendly feel to it, Notch and those other guys who work there being who they are. Also I'm sure Mojang has future projects which are also going to be fairly successful.(again though, agreed, never gonna outdo Minecraft)
Click to expand...

There is actually no "truth" to that at all. Not sure where people are getting that Minecraft has "peaked".
 
Beautifully Shaped Monsters said:
I fear for the Linux version (the only version my kid has to play). :)

It's the one version that never gets mentioned in any of the statistics, press releases etc. And MS's track record isn't fantastic in that regard (looking at Skype which is suffering from benign neglect).
Click to expand...

Hopefully they can get it off Java and get different platform builds going.
 
I just don't really see the point in this. I can only imagine they've got some huge ideas to monetize the game (I'm thinking DLC and subscription service), which will probably simply cause it to die. I mean, I've already got the PC version... I won't give them any more money for it, and neither will anyone else that already owns it.. they've got to have plans for people like me, to get that money.
 
Go for Angry Birds next Microsoft. Seriously one of the worst moves I've ever heard of. You obtained for 2.5 billion dollars a game that everyone already has, so in essence, the rights to Minecraft 2, to be built by people who are not Notch(not that I even think he can strike gold twice).

2.5 billion dollars for a random indie studio to catch lightning in a bottle. Awesome show, great job!
 
The Illiterati said:
Go for Angry Birds next Microsoft. Seriously one of the worst moves I've ever heard of. You obtained for 2.5 billion dollars a game that everyone already has, so in essence, the rights to Minecraft 2, to be built by people who are not Notch(not that I even think he can strike gold twice).

2.5 billion dollars for a random indie studio to catch lightning in a bottle. Awesome show, great job!
Click to expand...

I wonder if you ever left that basement?
 
Foffy said:
Would you take two billion dollars if all you could do in your down time is play the rebooted Tomb Raider series?
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oh god :(

*sigh*

if they gave me 2 billion dollars I would promote the new Tomb Raider and say OG Tomb Raider is atrocious and that this new cinematic nightma-- i mean dream is totally the way the series should always have been

#nodignityforbillions
 
Stillmatic said:
Congrats to Notch and team, wow. But damn that seems like a biiig waste of money, or maybe I'm blind to it seeing as Minecraft doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

Is this the most ever spent to buy an IP?
Click to expand...

I feel like it is a huge waste of money as well.

Also for laughs:

H4vqsCs.jpg
 
It's like nobody at Microsoft ever looked at Zynga's track record of success with buying one hit wonder studios.

What a gargantuan waste of money.
 
Considering how interested Microsoft has been with creation tools aimed at children with Kudu, and all ages with Project Spark, it makes a lot of sense that Minecraft would be something they'd desire. Not in the 'lol MS wants their own LBP clone,' but something bigger.

Minecraft has some really clever creation elements with the various switches and contraptions you can do within the game as it is. Imagine if MS inked a deal with schools across the world to put a more educational version of Minecraft into classrooms? Then you have the "real" game for personal use on just about every platform, merchandise deals, and animated movie rights...

That all seems more valuable and in line with the service-focused, software nature of current Microsoft than Minecraft 2 exclusive to Xbox, 'takin' away muh mods,' micro-transactions, or whatever.
 
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