In a deal that has been rumoured for a while now, Microsoft has bought Mojang, the Swedish creators of the phenomenally successful Minecraft, for a reported $2.5 billion. Officially announced on Monday afternoon, both Microsoft and Mojang spokesman Owen Hill have been quick to point out that the deal won't affect current work on the game, nor does it mean that iterations of the world-building game currently available on non-Microsoft platforms will be scrapped. Indeed Microsoft has said in no uncertain terms that they plan “To continue to make Minecraft available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation.” Once the deal has closed, Mojang will become part of Microsoft Studios, which also produces popular franchises such as Halo, Forza and Fable.
Microsoft has bought Mojang, the Swedish creators of the phenomenally successful Minecraft, for a reported $2.5 billion
Hill suggested that the reason for the sale was that the pressure of running the company, which generated $326 million just last year, was simply becoming too much for founders Markus 'Notch' Persson, Carl Manneh and Jakob Porser, all of whom are leaving the company. Persson, who was most closely responsible for the early development of the game, as said he's “Not a CEO,” but a “Nerdy computer programmer who likes to have opinions on Twitter.” He said as soon as the deal is done he'll go back to “Doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments,” and that if he ever accidentally stumbles onto another success, he'll “Probably abandon it immediately.”
An example of the kind of stunningly blocky vistas players are able to create in Minecraft
Minecraft began life back in 2009 as a simple free-ware project, so it's not hard to imagine the founders are all a little overwhelmed with how the property has grown over the last few years. The numbers alone are simply staggering, with more than 100 million downloads on PC and over 2 billion hours of time logged on just the Xbox 360 version of the game in the last 2 years. For those unfamiliar with the title, its essentially a 21st century, virtual Lego kit with infinite potential. The renewed focus of Mojang going forward will be to support Microsoft with new content for the game, which has only just been released on the Xbox One and Playstation 4. A statement issued by the company says the game will “Continue to evolve, just like it has since the start of development,” and that whilst they “Don’t know specific plans for Minecraft’s future yet,” they do know that “Everyone involved wants the community to grow and become even more amazing than it’s ever been.”
“Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big.” Markus 'Notch' Persson
Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, said they plan to “maintain ‘Minecraft’ and its community in all the ways people love today, with a commitment to nurture and grow it long into the future.” Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, meanwhile, believes that “Minecraft is more than a great game franchise – it is an open world platform, driven by a vibrant community," that he tries to stress Microsoft cares "Deeply about." Nobody at Microsoft has yet to comment specifically on how to deal will affect non-Microsoft platforms, or other Mojang games currently in development, but leveraging the influential developers in the console and mobile phone markets (where its platforms are lagging behind competitors) seems like a given.
A screenshot from “Scrolls,” another Mojang game. It's unclear yet whether Microsoft will also be working on other Mojang properties besides Minecraft
Persson, who has always been seen as something of a “Live wire,” officially signs off on Mojang and the phenomenon he created almost single-handedly by telling his legions of fans around the world; “Thank you for turning Minecraft into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big.”
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who has wasted a solid hundred hours or so of his life building a replica of his own home on Minecraft.
