We’ve heard the rumors for a number of weeks now, and for many of us it was almost impossible to believe that Mojang, and Notch, would sell Minecraft off.
Not only is it hard to think of Mojang not owning Minecraft, but have a Microsoft owned Mincecraft sounded like a pipe dream. But money does funny things and $2 billion dollars goes a long way to change hearts and minds.
The announcement on the sale had this to say about the situation:
“Minecraft has grown from a simple game to a project of monumental significance. Though we’re massively proud of what Minecraft has become, it was never Notch’s intention for it to get this big.
“As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He’s decided that he doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance. Over the past few years he’s made attempts to work on smaller projects, but the pressure of owning Minecraft became too much for him to handle. The only option was to sell Mojang. He’ll continue to do cool stuff though. Don’t worry about that.
“There are only a handful of potential buyers with the resources to grow Minecraft on a scale that it deserves. We’ve worked closely with Microsoft since 2012, and have been impressed by their continued dedication to our game and its development. We’re confident that Minecraft will continue to grow in an awesome way.
“Minecraft means many different things to millions of people across the world, and to each and every Mojangsta. We feel that this is the best way for everyone – you guys included – to benefit.”
It’s hard to imagine how Microsoft will make money on Minecraft at this point in its life. The saturation rate of Minecraft is so large that continued sales are not guaranteed. My feeling is that Microsoft is banking of the future and Minecraft 2.
Mincraft has seen strong numbers on consoles and making it exclusive to Xbox One and PC may help Microsoft in the long run. Only time will tell if the Minecraft name is worth $2.5 billion.
Notch has already stepped down from development on Minecraft and is now leaving the studio entirely making the following statement on his personal blog.
“I don’t see myself as a real game developer,” he writes. “I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. Minecraft certainly became a huge hit, and people are telling me it’s changed games. I never meant for it to do either. It’s certainly flattering, and to gradually get thrust into some kind of public spotlight is interesting.”
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