Early this morning, Microsoft announced that they have completed the acquisition of Mojang, makers of Minecraft. The makers of Xbox acquired the Swedish developer for a final sum of $2.5 billion dollars.
Microsoft promised to embrace the spirit of innovation and community that has propelled the franchise forward these past few years. They have confirmed that MineCon will still happen this year, and mentioned that are happy to add Mojang to their current studio line up, and Minecraft to their portfolio of franchises.
“‘Minecraft’ is one of the most popular franchises of all time,” said Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. “We are going 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.”
There is a lot to speculate about on why Microsoft would want to acquire a franchise that is a few years old already, but the press release does state the cross platform success that the game has enjoyed, and perhaps they see it as a way to bring their Xbox players to other Microsoft devices.
Minecraft to join Microsoft. http://t.co/OPvAovNe2wpic.twitter.com/aiHU0ZrzMn
— Xbox (@Xbox) September 15, 2014
On Mojang’s side the motivation behind the transaction seems fairly clear. $2.5 billion dollars is no small amount of money. Gamesindustry.biz reports that Notch and Mojang co-founders Carl Manneh and Jakob Porsér will be leaving the company, but that most current employees are expected to stay with the company.
This move supports recent speculation that the Minecraft creators were unhappy with how much of their time their flagship title consumed. They will now be free to pursue some of those side projects Minecraft did not allow them the time to work on. With a 2.5 billion dollar war chest to fund this, they can do pretty much whatever they want.
To say anymore at this time would be speculating, but I am sure we will hear announcements as to the future of the franchise before long. I am sure we will also hear a lot from Minecraft’s devoted fanbase about the topic. Personally, I want to see what the now-former owners of Mojang will do with their even more ludicrous wealth.
