Minecraft!

[Happenstance]

There are reports coming in that Microsoft are trying to buy Mojang for $2 billion. If that goes through then I think MS will regret it. Minecraft is great but it was pretty much made popular by the Youtube community and Mojang havent really done anything worthwhile since. Even any updates they have made to the game tend to be driven by the modding community.

[somme]

Looks like you'll have to build a train/mine cart line.

 

EDIT: Just found this news article:

 

Microsoft said to be buying the maker of 'Minecraft' for $2 billion

 

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/9/6128759/microsoft-said-to-be-buying-the-maker-of-minecraft-for-2-billion

Edited September 10, 2014 by somme

[Tales]

Anyone want to join me in my world today? Don't have anyone in real life to play this with so it would be nice with a visitor or two :p Planning to play until 5.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Tales

[Esequiel]

Anyone want to join me in my world today? Don't have anyone in real life to play this with so it would be nice with a visitor or two :p Planning to play until 5.

 

Whats your PS4 name? I was on all afternoon didnt see you!

[Tales]

Same as on PS3 :p Thought I had you added, but there are so many of us now My PSN name is Tahles.

[Cube]

https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/

 

Microsoft now own Mojang/Minecraft, and the founders are leaving. For that money, I can't really blame them.

 

Unfortunately, the main question seems to come across as though they don't actually know the answer.

 

What about the other editions of Minecraft? Will they stop being developed?

 

There’s no reason for the development, sales, and support of the PC/Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, iOS, and Android versions of Minecraft to stop. Of course, Microsoft can’t make decisions for other companies or predict the choices that they might make in the future.

 

Still, it looks like Microsoft will now be releasing the biggest Vita game in a while.

[Jimbob]

It may have been part of the deal, i think i read somewhere all versions of Minecraft will still be developed across multi-platforms.

[Sheikah]

I think they'll get some hate if they dropped support for other systems. Time will tell...can't believe they dropped $2 bil on this. Can't see them clawing anywhere near the money back from it.

[dwarf]

Can someone explain why $2.5 billion makes any business sense?

 

Bear in mind that Call of Duty: Black Ops grossed a billion dollars, and that was one of the most successful video games of all time. Where is the money made in Minecraft?

[Cube]

Can someone explain why $2.5 billion makes any business sense?

 

If Mojang made the same profit of $129 million that they did last year, it will take over 19 years, so it will require a pretty big jump in profits for it to make sense.

 

Personally, I think that Minecraft is reaching saturation point and will slow down soon, and I can't see "Minecraft 2" being successful at all due to the nature of the game and updates.

[Sheikah]

If Mojang made the same profit of $129 million that they did last year, it will take over 19 years, so it will require a pretty big jump in profits for it to make sense.

 

Personally, I think that Minecraft is reaching saturation point and will slow down soon, and I can't see "Minecraft 2" being successful at all due to the nature of the game and updates.

 

Very much agree with this. I can't see a successor being as popular...what really can they do? The idea of the game is for it to look basic and blocky, so I'm not really even sure how they can justify a new title as opposed to constant patches.

[The Bard]

Just seems like the most boneheaded, clueless move imaginable.

[dwarf]

Change your avatar.

[The Bard]

Er yes mum.

[Mandalore]

Think how many "AAA" exclusive games $2.5 Billion could have funded. Sony probably spent just a fraction of that on their wealth of 1st party studios. Maybe they'll get their shit together for the Xbox 4, in the mean time I'm fairly set on getting a PS4.

[ShavenWolf]

$2.5 billion??!

 

Joke's on them, I bought it for under a tenner when it was in Alpha.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

Microsoft's new marketing strategy; have your logo appear before the start of one of the most popular games on your competitors console...

[Debug Mode]

Surely there's some angle that we're not seeing due to the lack of internal knowledge here? No one can work out how exactly this was a good deal.

[Emasher]

Thinking that Microsoft is planning on making their money back simply by continuing development on Minecraft as it is today is pretty naive.

 

As someone who's developed a few, somewhat popular, mods for the game, I can say that Minecraft has a lot of potential beyond what's apparent to the public. You can see small glimpses of that by looking at what the modding community has produced this far. We've seen some amazing content in mods like Thaumcraft, Red Power, and many others. Now just imagine for a second what could be accomplished if Microsoft was to release a proper (and well documented, unlike Forge) SDK for modders that allowed for the development of mods that could easily be ported to multiple platforms, and then actually sold for money, with Microsoft skimming some off the top of course. You'd not only attract a lot more talent, but you'd start to see more ambitious and higher quality mods (stuff that people actually would be willing to pay for). With the flexibility of the platform, total conversion projects aren't out of the question either. With over 16 million copies sold on the PC, and even more than that on consoles (combined), there's already a pretty big market.

 

Then there's the value of the IP itself. While it's unlikely that we'll be seeing Minecraft 2 anytime soon, a platforming game starring a creeper, or "Minekart" aren't out of the question.

[Rummy]

MS taking a leaf out of Nintendo's book maybe?

 

(srsly had no idea they sold for literally billions, even 2/2.5 at that!)

 

 

EDIT: Where's an actual original source on this purchase's valuation? Is there any chance this is a lost in translation currency conversion, given how ridiculous the price vs value/return is? - Nvm, Mojang's own site says 2.5 billion dollars. I remain skeptical regardless, I just can't see anything pointing to that sort of value in the company.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Rummy

[Emasher]

I just can't see anything pointing to that sort of value in the company.

 

And you never will just by looking at Minecraft sales figures. This is about the bigger picture.

[Sheikah]

And you never will just by looking at Minecraft sales figures. This is about the bigger picture.

 

Bigger picture or not, $2.5 billion is pretty fucking ridiculous.

[Emasher]

Bigger picture or not, $2.5 billion is pretty fucking ridiculous.

 

All the more reason to believe Microsoft has much bigger plans for it than people seem to be suggesting.

 

They might not make a profit on it. But They certainly think they can, and already know how they're going to do it. Even for Microsoft, 2.5 billion isn't an impulse buy.

[Cube]

@Emasher, Microsoft's Azure servers are almost certainly one thing rhat Microsoft is thinking about. They could put support for Azure, as well as put easy hosting and payments, directly in the game.

[Rummy]

And you never will just by looking at Minecraft sales figures. This is about the bigger picture.

 

I know that, it's just that this apparent bigger picture won't fit in most art galleries, from where I'm standing. What is Mojang's actual net worth, turnover, revenue, profit and assets? Does it even come in anywhere near close to a billion, let alone 2.5billion?

 

What do studio sales usually sort of go for on average? I'm sure I haven't heard of something this big for something that, for all I can see, isn't really that big.

 

EDIT: Actually on that note - does anyone know where I can find general sales figures of Minecraft, the current user base of sorts, and the price over time(if it's changed)?

Edited September 16, 2014 by Rummy