Notes

Minecraft will Join Microsoft

The Mojang team will join Microsoft Studios, which includes the studios behind the blockbuster franchises such as "Halo," "Forza," "Fable" and more. Microsoft's investments in cloud and mobile technologies will enable "Minecraft" players to enjoy more immersive and faster worlds and more powerful development tools, and more opportunities to connect across the "Minecraft" community.



Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will acquire Mojang for $2.5 billion.



Mojang:



Minecraft has grown from a simple game to an enormously important project. Although we're immensely proud of what Minecraft has grown into It was never Notch's intention for it to get this massive.



As you may already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He has decided that he would not want to take on the responsibility of running a company that has such a global impact. In the past, he's made attempts to work on smaller projects but the pressure of managing Minecraft was too difficult to bear. Mojang was the only option. But he'll keep doing cool stuff. Don't worry about that.



There are only a few potential buyers who have the funds to expand Minecraft to the size it deserves. We've been working closely with Microsoft since 2012 and have been awed by their ongoing commitment to our game and its development. We're confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in a phenomenal way.



Markus "Notch" Persson:



I don't consider myself a game developer. I create games for fun, and because I love games and love to program however I don't create games with the aim of them becoming huge hits and I don't set out to make a difference in the world. City2020 Minecraft definitely became a huge success and people are saying it's changed the game. It wasn't an accident. It's flatteringand fascinating to slowly be in the public spotlight.



I'm not sure what to do about this.



Update (2014-09-19): Josh Centers:



Minecraft is the most amazing game I've played. It's a sandbox-like game, part world-builder and exploration game and part farming simulator and a role-playing game. It has an "conclusion" of sort (that you must find on your own) however it doesn't really end. You can play on your own or with others or even run your own Minecraft server and invite only your friends to join it. It's easy to spend countless hours in Minecraft, and millions of people have.



Acquisition Game Microsoft Minecraft



3 Comments



It's to me like a given. Microsoft have determined that should Apple adopts hi-res technology with their retina screens and operating system, the only way Microsoft can distinguish itself is to "bet the whole company on red" and go lo-lo-res.



Imagine Windows Explorer with folder icons with a resolution of 8x8



:-)



"I have no idea what to make of this."



Minecraft is the most significant thing that happened to games since Pokemon. Everybody plays the game, and if Minecraft is well managed it will remain one of the most important, widely played, influential franchises for at least another decade.



Games are extremely important to Microsoft, both because they are among the main drivers to sell new Windows PCs (and consequently Windows licenses) and also because of the Xbox. Microsoft has attempted to develop games that were a bit like Minecraft in the past (Viva Pinata, Kodu, Project Spark) and have more or less failed.



Sony already owns the Little Pig Planet franchise, and Nintendo is now entering the "creative games where you design things, not just consume things" field with Mario Maker for the Wii U. I believe a lot of companies assume that these kinds of games are going to be increasingly important. I think they're also right.


Here's my website: https://city2020.com/