14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has bought Mojang for 2.5 billion dollars (1.74 billion Euro) and that means Minecraft is now in the hands of the company which created the Xbox One and the 360, a move that will probably affect the gaming industry for a long time to come.
Rumors about the transaction had been flowing for a few days before the official confirmation, and both companies have stressed the fact that the indie title will not be removed from any platform in the coming months and will continue to get access to new content and updates.
Markus Persson, aka Notch, and the other founders of Mojang are leaving the company once the transaction is complete, and Microsoft has said that it expects to break even on the transaction by the time the current fiscal year is done in March of 2015.
The deal seems to be mutually advantageous, with the creators of Minecraft getting a lot of money for their great idea and execution and with the creators of the Xbox One now in charge of one of the biggest universes in the world of gaming, with a very dedicated set of fans.
Now all that’s left is to contemplate the variety of ways they can destroy it.
Minecraft 2 might go Xbox One only
Microsoft has not talked about actual plans for Minecraft and for Mojang, and the company has a long history of picking up developers in order to get them to work exclusively on its platforms.
The juggernaut might have learned from its mistakes, but it’s very likely still that it will launch a version of Minecraft, either a much improved core game or a full sequel, which will only be offered on the Xbox One or only on Windows 9.
The community loves Minecraft for the possibilities it opens up, so moving the entire experience to just one platform in some form would be a huge disappointment for them and the commercial success will probably be limited.
Microsoft probably knows better than to attempt something like this and risk a very negative reaction from the player community and the rest of the industry.
Nevertheless, the Xbox One might get a one-time boost to its own numbers, which is sorely needed in the coming year given the advantage that the PlayStation 4 from Sony is developing.
Monetizing could happen relatively quickly
After paying so much money for Minecraft, it’s almost unavoidable and certain that Microsoft will look for a way to extract more money out of its big audience.
Maybe they will deliver paid expansions which include new content and improve the core mechanics. Maybe more DLC based on classic franchises will be introduced in rapid succession or maybe gamers will be offered a long-term subscription service for the title.
Maybe Microsoft will only use the big audience of Minecraft to promote other titles that it owns or to simply advertise third-party products.
Players need to remember that this is a company focused on making money and such a large initial investment will need to deliver clear and solid results sooner rather than later.