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Microsoft Set to Buy Minecraft's Developer Mojang, Say Reports

Microsoft plans to buy Minecraft's developer Mojang, say reports By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor



The video games studio behind Minecraft is in talks to be taken over by Microsoft, according to reports.



According to some reports, Mojang could sell for more than $2 billion (PS1.2bn).



The Swedish studio said it had sold 54 million copies of its game in June. It has been released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 since then, which has further boosted sales.



Markus "Notch", the Mojang's founder Mojang, has previously been publicly critical of Microsoft.



In the lead-up to the launch of the Windows 8 operating system, Mr. Smith stated that the company was "trying to degrade the PC as an open platform" because it planned to approve third-party games prior to their release.



He had also been an active supporter of independent studios, declaring in 2012: "The more studios that can get rid of the publisher system and make games, the more games will be made out of passion, not for profit."



Bloomberg news agency claims that it was Mr. Persson who "reach out" to Microsoft just a few months ago.



It said that a source suggested that should the deal go through, Mr Persson could help in the transition, but it was unlikely to stay on afterwards.



The New York Times reported that Persson was expected to leave within six months. However, a person briefed on talks said that Persson will likely to quit within six months. However, he added that Mojang wanted to retain its younger developers.



Microsoft spokespersons have said that they do not comment on speculation or reports.



Mojang declined to comment. The BBC's questions were not addressed by Mr Persson.



Virtual world



Minecraft was first released in 2011, and has since become the third most popular game ever made and a popular culture.



London's Victoria and Albert Museum hosted an evening to explore its design culture. Lego has created spin-off toys, Ordnance Survey created a version for mainland Great Britain, and the government of Denmark has constructed a scale model.



The story is set in a world composed of cubes of various materials, including dirt, rocks, and lava. Many of them can be used as building blocks, or transformed into usable raw materials.



Players use blocks to build shelters and to create weapons to defend their character from the game's monsters, zombies and other zombies.



They can also engage in huge construction projects in order to flex their creative skills.



One of the most recent examples was the creation of a working virtual hard drive.



Mojang has worked on other games, but they've either failed to meet the standards of Minecraft's popularity - for instance, the role-playing game (RPG) Scrolls - or have been put aside before they were completed such as 0x10c a space-themed game that Mr Persson had been working on up until last year.



'Worried gamers'



The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on negotiations between Mojang and Microsoft, saying that the deal could be finalised this week.



It noted that this would be the first multibillion dollar acquisition by Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, since when he was appointed to the company in 2003.
Minecraft


Harry Bradshaw, who interviewed Mr. Persson via Twitch and stated that a lot of gamers would be concerned by the news.



He said that there have been instances in the past where big corporations took someone else's game and transformed it into a huge profit-making scheme to test the amount they can make."



"Gamers will naturally be worried about this.



"It is an unanswerable question to me as to what the reason is Mojang would make a sale considering that it is the most viewed PC game ever created and sells thousands of copies every day."



One market watcher stated that it was unlikely that Microsoft will remove existing Minecraft games from the sale on the PlayStation, Mac and Android, Linux, or other rival platforms.



However, he said that Microsoft's different systems could be preferred when it comes to future products.



Piers Harding-Rolls (lead games analyst at IHS) said that Minecraft is among the most important IPs [intellectual property] in the games space that could be acquirable.



"The brand is able to last for the next 10 years,"



"So even though it is an expensive investment It still has value for larger companies that want to get the exclusive rights to a highly-engaged franchise."



Minecraft maker shelves 0x10c games



19 August 2013



Minecraft creator attacks Windows



28 September 2012



Twitch



IHS



New York Times



Bloomberg



WSJ


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