Minecraft has pretty much stalled. It was appealing at first when it was the only game in its little sandbox niche, but now everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. I have a feeling Microsoft is going to lose money on this in the long run.
I'd be curious if Microsoft would then try to get in Mojang's business. One of the reasons people love Minecraft so much is the openness of the game. The game feels endlessly entertaining due to all the mods and mod packs available for it. If Microsoft gets that and doesn't try to force Mojang to close off their game (or any other future games) then it might work out.
And it's official (although for $2.5B, not $2B): http://news.xbox.com/2014/09/games-minecraft-to-join-microsoft https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/ Notch is leaving: http://notch.net/2014/09/im-leaving-mojang/
I would've done the same. Notch is filthy rich, can retire and party like a rock star for the rest of his life. As far as the acquisition, hello micro-transactions and yearly releases? If MS milks Minecraft, I don't think they'll get a decent ROI and it'll potentially end up like Rare or the other studios they burned to the ground.
I sort of don't get it. Its a needless buy, like Beats to Apple. Maybe MS has an idea like expanding Minecraft to other MS devices, but they don't even keep the creators of the game in the deal. I'm at a loss here...
I agree but why come out with a woe is me message and also go out of your way to say it's not about the money. Seems disingenuous. Everything else he and Mojang has created has been major flops. Then he whines about his disconnect between him and the fans, he's just a programmer blah blah... Oh and this is the same guy who said it was creepy when Oculus Rift was purchased by Facebook. Why not just come out and say it, I'M RICH b****!!!
Never played it. Seen everyone playing it. Don't understand it. But if I ever take the moment to sit and play it, I'll understand.
This was great for Notch and others - not sure what it means for the players, probably get ready for micro transactions and monetization. MS has turned into the new EA, where they don't innovate they buy. DD
I doubt they mess with the model. Literally the only reason it is alive is because of the open sourced nature of its code and because of its vibrant and varied modding community.
You don't buy something to let folks play for free - MS will be looking to make money somehow to pay for their investment. They are behind in the console wars, and they have money, expect a lot more acquisitions to be happening to bolster their portfolio. DD
This is how I see it. They may leave the Minecraft model as is and primarily generating revenue through new customers, licensing, and some paid DLC. But the key for them is how they leverage the eyeballs/community into other products and services. Maybe they add new Windows/XBox/Surface only features/interfaces. Maybe they add new skins. Maybe they leverage Minecraft to expand Project Spark.
