Report: Microsoft To Buy Minecraft Studio For $2bn+ 368
dotarray (1747900) writes "A surprising story has emerged today that suggests Microsoft is looking to buy Minecraft developer Mojang. The reported price tag is "more than US$2 billion."
The original report is at the WSJ (possibly behind a paywall). Quoting: "For Microsoft, "Minecraft" could reinvigorate the company's 13-year-old Xbox videogame business by giving it a cult hit with a legion of young fans. Mojang has sold more than 50 million copies of "Minecraft" since it was initially released in 2009 and earned more than $100 million in profits last year from the game and merchandise. "Minecraft" is already available on the Xbox, as well as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation, PCs and smartphones."
No. (Score:4, Informative)
Please. No.
Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)
The interesting thing here is that the valuable part of Minecraft is not the software produced, but the development and publishing method and its userbase.
If MS touches the development or publishing method, it will lose its userbase to someone else doing the same thing properly. Basically, it'll end up like the Sims Online.
Re:No. (Score:4, Insightful)
Pretty much this. There is very little in the IP itself, especially since everyone and their dog either already did a Minecraft clone or is currently developing one. The moment MS taints the IP by turning it into something its users do not like, it's gone from the front page and replaced by one of its copycats.
For reference, see Napster.
Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually lateral thinking would be to buy Lego and create a full game based around constructing with the Lego blocks. You then have a full 'click and mortar'(heh, heh) solution ie a full range merchandise already in stores to go with the newly created game. Makes much more sense than buying minecraft.
Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)
It still has no official modding support. Mojang bought Bukkit and hired its team over a year ago, but they still keep it an independent project and not the official mod API (think how CentOS is now owned by Red Hat but still has a social/corporate firewall between RHEL and CentOS devs).
As for being written poorly in Java, it was original just some dumb idea that Notch had to remake Infiniminer, and his Random Java Project #56 -- he already had mild internet fame (albeit nothing compared to his post-Minecraft fame), but this particular game had just enough potential to keep it moving. He didn't make it to be very performant in the first place, Java was just familiar and convenient to him.
Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)
Posting anonymous because I really shouldn't be saying this. Yes, it's for real: notch wants to sell out. It's been known inside the company for weeks. The news hit the developers in the Stockholm office very hard to the point that people were actually sobbing. No-one's happy besides the two people likely to end up with a large pile of cash after this goes down.
Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:No. (Score:4, Interesting)
And suddenly the pieces [slashdot.org] begin to come together.
There was an article in I think Time not all that long ago, and the writeup made it sound as if notch had lost all of his drive and zeal. It sounded as if notch and the other owner were going through the motions and blowing through mountains of cash like some newly minted pop star flavor of the month with crazy expensive partying for the employees on the company dime. Seemed very dotcom.
Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)
The news hit the developers in the Stockholm office very hard to the point that people were actually sobbing.
Yeah, they probably know how well being bought by Microsoft worked out for Sublogic. Or Oddworld Inhabitants. Or Bungie, even, forced to crank out endless formulaic sequels.
On the one hand, I can't blame notch, because if Microsoft offered me enough cash to retire, I'd sell out. But on the other hand, notch is already a millionaire, right? It's not like he needs the money.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes we will lose our jobs, it was already said Microsoft is not interested in hiring amateur indie java programmers already.
And there won't be a large severance, Notch is taking the money and retiring.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Who is to say they are even the same A.C.? Any AC comment here on this topic that professes to 'inside info' is suspect. There are a large number of people who resent or otherwise strongly dislike Minecraft and Mojang, for any number of reasons.
Billionaire and no he doesn't need the money (Score:5, Insightful)
But funny thing about money, people always want more.
Re:Billionaire and no he doesn't need the money (Score:5, Insightful)
Once you have enough money, money is no longer money. For you and I money is something we use to get through life. Once you have enough money to no longer worry about anything for the rest of your life money takes another form entirely...
Power. Sure you may be a multi-millionaire, but is that enough to get you a private dinner with the President? No? You and all your kids are free of any cash problems for your life, but are you on the cover of Time? No?
Well clearly you need more.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't know... Elon Musk seamed to put the money to go use. But then again, unfortunately there are really few creative billionais out there and the only thing they do is try to up one each other.
Re:Billionaire and no he doesn't need the money (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, just on off-the-cuff calculations, say 30 million copies across all platforms,could be as high as 40 M, but PC is only 16-17 M. I'm not sure what cut Mojang gets from the non-PC versions after you take out the development costs and Xbox/PS platform royalties, but let's say that Mojang grossed about $20 per copy overall. This includes he alpha and beta sales that were for under $20 averaged with the higher costs now.
This comes out to $600-$800 M before taxes, so after you factor in Minecraft Realms monthly fees and any income from Scrolls, you're probably somewhere around $1B in sales. I'm pretty sure there are more than 2 employees with equity in the company, and when you factor in Swedish income taxes, Notch is clearly not a billionaire in dollars.
It's worth $2B to Microsoft, because they can milk the Minecraft cow for at least that much by merchandising paraphenalia and movies, Minecraft Realms is also an ongoing cashflow. Oh, and I bet they institute a monthly fee for Minecraft Server.
Apart from the money, I think Notch is really selling because he's sick of the BS of running a company: Bethesda suing them over scrolls, parents suing them over exploitative MC servers....etc.
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But on the other hand, notch is already a millionaire, right?
Maybe he wants to start his own space program?
Re:No. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:No. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think one of the things which made Minecraft popular is Java. There are a huge number of plugins and mods, these wouldn't happen without Java. It is easy to reverse engineer and modify anything in Minecraft exactly because it is in Java. Even its plugin system was written by an external developer! I do not really know Minecraft myself, but my 13 old years son plays Minecraft, and he spent months coding Minecraft extensions, and as far as I hear from him, a usual server uses a very large number of extensions.
Java is not ideal for graphics intensive applications, but it is also not that bad either. Minecraft (without mods) does not represent what is possible in Java, becuase it is very under-optimized. The new 1.8 version is much faster, but there is still much room for optimization.
This is similar to why PHP web softwares are very popular, they are not perfect, but they are very easy to be modified.
Re:No. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No. (Score:4, Interesting)
They are popular with users, but very unpopular with studios. Simply for the same reason: Lack of control over what the user can actually do. It's kinda hard to sell addons when users can simply create them themselves. How do you sell DLC when users simply go "fffft, gimme an hour to code it an keep your overpriced shit!"
Server-side vs. client-side (Score:5, Insightful)
Another issue is that enabling server-side mods means players don't have to buy anything at all. I didn't have to pay for the mods, but even if I did, me paying once would be far cheaper than players having to buy them individually.
I had all sorts of things on my server -- giants, creepers started fires, skeleton arrows could blind you, spiders could poison you, zombies could make you hungry and/or cause the Wither effect, nearby explosions would cause you to become dizzy, there were "space zombies" with glass helmets and 5x the health wandering around (in the Nether too). Monsters would target you from 27 blocks away rather than 16. There were Elementals, invisible monsters, and flying carpets. I also nerfed the enchantments to reduce the power differences between well-equipped and just-starting-out players. That way I didn't have to crank the difficulty up quite as high, and the n00bs could live a little longer. There were shops, and there was an economy. We had mcMMO. We had trading posts stocked with villagers. We had minecarts on the backs of bats, so you could ride in a random aerial pattern if you felt like it. We had bouncy blocks that would catapult you into the air. I added drops (for example, blazes would drop quartz, and magma cubes could drop regular slimeballs). One of my admins made uncraftable blocks such as circle stone and packed ice expensive but available through stores.
The effect of any one of these mods was minor, but taken as a sum, they made up an environment unlike any other Minecraft server. What was the player required to do to enable all of these changes? Absolutely nothing. Just sign on and play.
This is anathema to the DLC business model. Therefore, it can't be monetized by the company producing the game. Mojang was OK with that. (I wasn't running Pay-To-Win.) Microsoft most likely won't be.
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Given 2 billion dollars for Mojang, I would have sold. No question about it.
But it does make Notch's indignant reaction to Facebook buying out Occulus look even sillier now.
Re:No. (Score:5, Funny)
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To some degree it has already happened. With no further updates to bukkit my 6yo is in hell. He has been playing Minecraft since he wasn't even 2yo, his entire youth has been focused on it.
Re:No. (Score:5, Interesting)
If it was any other game I'd say "...and thats a good thing", but minecraft is a phenomena not like any other. A friend of mine has a deeply autistic son who's never had friends due to the toll autism takes, and he's had deep troubles with school and the like. Until minecraft. On minecraft he's just another kid on a server making castles with his buddies and being part of a gang of kids creating and playing. Its really brought him out of his shell and if I come over to visit his mom he'll even come out and say hello and want to talk (about minecraft... always about minecraft. Its a hobby), and thats a fucking achievement.
He's now interested in school and maths finally because he wants to be jeb (the main 9-5 developer on minecraft these days) one day. He's got a hero.
Basically minecraft is turning him into a normal kid, and I'd hate to see anything ruin that.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:No. (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes. And I predict MS putting it up for sale in a few years for about $200M
HALO (Score:4, Insightful)
Remember when everyone was excited about this game in development called "Halo", and MS went and bought that up?
Not too surprised here.
Re: (Score:2)
And then they cut off almost everything that was exciting about Halo.
Re: (Score:2)
What was exciting about Halo? No clue here, never heard of it before MS.
Re:HALO (Score:4, Informative)
Halo was really based in the same universe (or a very similar one) as an earlier series of games usually called the Marathon trilogy. These were Bungie's first big hits, and had two major properties that make them remembered fondly.
1. They were like Doom (2 1/2 D shooters), but with great plots and characterization for their time. (And most of this keenness was something more players saw there for the first time, often before Doom came out, or at least caught on, because Apples were around more then- see point 2). Bungie may have been first with some features, was definitely first to get them right with others, and it took some time for Id games to even be taken seriously. Think of the story everybody wanted for Mass Effect 3, and mostly felt disappointed in. For most gamers who started the series, Marathon 3 was like everything more modern players hoped Mass Effect 3 would be. Plus, many players felt they got a lot of other things right, like squad level control, vehicle movement, microphone talk in multiplayer, weapons/ammo ratios (and not being able to carry 10 or so weapons and thousands of rounds of ammo all at once), being able to design your own levels, and the whole blend of Single Player/Multiplayer/Deathmatch modes.
2. They ran on Apples, and were so big there that many people actually complained about how there was notihng in gaming for the PC as good as for the Apple. (There were other games, such as Myst and Armor Alley contributing to this effect too, I'm not saying it was all Marathon, but Myst and Bungie doing ports to Microsoft shifted the whole gaming scene away from Apple over just a couple of years).
Halo was supposed to be the updated version of those, going to a fully 3D engine, and it delivered an really exciting story with a giant ring around a planet, a weapon that could destroy whole worlds, and A.I. systems that would burn themselves out in 3 years or so just through being so ubersmart (and you had to hope the one you were relying on got you through the next scenario before it popped). And for the first time, there was a version for the X-Box and you didn't ahve to have an Apple Mac!
Re: (Score:3)
Myth: The Fallen Lords was Bungie's first big hit, mostly because it was their first Windows game. Marathon was well received but it was a Mac game and didn't have the market to be a big hit. Myth's profits allowed them to change offices and open a second studio.
Re:HALO (Score:5, Funny)
They should have bought minecraft years ago then. Back when the hype was starting and they could have gotten it for a couple million.
Kinda curious as to how they're going to screw it up.
Forced windows 8 integration?
Port the x-box port back to windows and drop the java version?
Mandatory Realms hosting for multiplayer so they can police it and add microtransactions for diamonds? "10 credits = 1 diamond. Or buy a pack and save! Available packs include the 64 diamond Stack Pack, the 574 diamond Block Stack Pack, or the best value the Diamond Block Dick To Pierce The Skies pack!"
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They should have bought minecraft years ago then. Back when the hype was starting and they could have gotten it for a couple million.
Kinda curious as to how they're going to screw it up.
Forced windows 8 integration?
Port the x-box port back to windows and drop the java version?
Mandatory Realms hosting for multiplayer so they can police it and add microtransactions for diamonds? "10 credits = 1 diamond. Or buy a pack and save! Available packs include the 64 diamond Stack Pack, the 574 diamond Block Stack Pack, or the best value the Diamond Block Dick To Pierce The Skies pack!"
If that happened everyone would just stick with the old version and tell Mojang-rosoft to f*ck itself. Just like open-source reveres engineered bukket server became the default Minecraft server for most servers the cracked client would become the default. As is many people run old versions already just to maintain compatibility with various mods already so its not that much of a stretch. I bought Minecraft specifically because they have Linux support, that would end if MS ever got their hand on it.
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If that happened everyone would just stick with the old version and tell Mojang-rosoft to f*ck itself. Just like open-source reveres engineered bukket server became the default Minecraft server for most servers the cracked client would become the default. As is many people run old versions already just to maintain compatibility with various mods already so its not that much of a stretch. I bought Minecraft specifically because they have Linux support, that would end if MS ever got their hand on it.
Not sure if you're aware what's been happening with that Bukkit server you cite. Turns out, Mojang AB secretly bought it two years ago when they hired away the lead developers. So Microsoft would own Bukkit, too. So it would have to be re-reverse engineered...
I agree... A Microsoft purchase would destroy Minecraft. Microsoft doesn't know how to do Java, or "open", or Mac/Playstation/iPad games... It would become just another banal property that gets milked for Microsoft Entertainment Division profit.
My
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If that happened everyone would just stick with the old version and tell Mojang-rosoft to f*ck itself. Just like open-source reveres engineered bukket server became the default Minecraft server for most servers the cracked client would become the default. As is many people run old versions already just to maintain compatibility with various mods already so its not that much of a stretch. I bought Minecraft specifically because they have Linux support, that would end if MS ever got their hand on it.
Not sure if you're aware what's been happening with that Bukkit server you cite. Turns out, Mojang AB secretly bought it two years ago when they hired away the lead developers. So Microsoft would own Bukkit, too. So it would have to be re-reverse engineered...
I agree... A Microsoft purchase would destroy Minecraft. Microsoft doesn't know how to do Java, or "open", or Mac/Playstation/iPad games... It would become just another banal property that gets milked for Microsoft Entertainment Division profit.
My older son literally burst into tears instantly when I was stupid enough to read the Verge headline out loud. He apparently shares my opinion...
No it would not have to be reverse engineered again as even though they now own it, it is still available and under the gpl v2. So that would be impossible for Microsoft to shutdown as it would be forked the next day and you can't retroactively re-licence someone else’s copy of gpl'ed software, remember GPL is viral and thats a good thing.
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EA tried to buy them for $100 million a couple years ago, they let the CEO in to the office and shortly after showed him out. At that point they'd already made enough to all comfortably retire and it's not surprising that they would turn down a billion dollars (that's what, $100 mil each per employee?) before caving at the $2 billion mark? It's hard to turn down that kind of money.
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I will have Internet Explorer installed at the core.
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Heh, I can see that.
Completely recode the game in C#/.Net and have IE specific calls to run the game. Force minecraft players to keep IE completely updated to run it, even old versions.
$2billion advertising campaign for IE11 or 12 doesn't sound so far fetched.
What? (Score:4, Interesting)
Umm... WHY??? (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean seriously, why would you want Mojang? Minecraft itself has already made most of its money. You'd never make $2 billion on it going forward, it's big sales have already happened. So you'd be buying the talent/IP for future games... ya, about that. Mojang seems to have little or nothing at all in the pipe to speak of. 0x10c has gone all of nowhere, Scrolls has very little interest anymore and that's about it.
When you look at Minecraft, particularly what it started as, where it came from (Infiniminer) and how much has come form community contribution, it is fairly apparent that Notch is not some genius game designer, he just had the right idea at the right time, and got lucky that it went viral. Minecraft was not some amazing feat of design, it was a digital lego game that struck a chord with people. Fair enough, and he deserves his success, but that isn't the kind of thing worth buying in to, particularly given 0x10c's complete lack of development.
I can't see what MS hopes to gain. Maybe the Minecraft name? I guess, in theory, that is worth some money but I don't really think so. I think people will happily play a good builder game, regardless of title.
Just seems like a bad use of money to me.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Notch announced over a year ago that he had suspended development on 0x10c indefinitely. He also stated that he was working on a new project but would be keeping it secret untill it was ready. Ever since the only thing out of Mojang has been stuff like the mojam games, and ludum dare entries. Notch has shown he can punch out an interesting game in as little as 48 hours, but when not given a deadline he gets easily distracted and never produces anything, Microsoft owning Mojang may actually get the team p
Licenses (Score:5, Insightful)
Not just software licenses. Licenses to print sticker, to make kids' notebooks and BMX bikes and a billion other shitty things from China with Minecraft-branded content. It's the brand they want- probably don't give a shit about the game itself.
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Re:Licenses (Score:4, Informative)
Right... my kids never played the game, he can't do WASD yet because he's only six. He's never seen a show about it and doesn't even know what it's about. But he has a minecraft Tshirt, lunchbox and a couple of toys and regales me with Tales of Creepers and Zombies. I've no idea what kind hallucinogenic crack Notch put in that game but it seems to be particularly effective on small children.
Re:Umm... WHY??? (Score:5, Interesting)
Imagine you can leverage off of their existing user base, your minecraft character becomes your xbox equivilent of a "Mii", and now you have a 3D avatar in a 3D world you can legitimately interact with. Did you not read Snowcrash? This is Snowcrash. Someone bootstrapped the 3D virtual world we've been promised since the 1980's (and failed at with Second Life) and now Microsoft will own it. And will integrate it in to your living room and cell phone.
P.S. Go read Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
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No, it isn't Snowcrash (Score:2)
For one thing that is a work of fiction, and there is plenty in there to give it away as something that will never be reality. Then there's also the fact that Minecraft is a poorly optimized Java game with graphics from the 1990s, not the foundation for some world wide universe.
Have you thought of applying to be the next CEO? (Score:2)
You seem to have a better grasp on what makes business sense for a company that has been floundering, albeit with scads of cash.
So have your resume handy, if they do not call the Ballmer back.
If it's not the latter, Good Luck with your new endeavor.
Re:Umm... WHY??? (Score:4, Funny)
But Microsoft will do their own incompatible version.
And then refuse to go on.
And people will call it Minecraft 6 and use it for 5+ years even though it's outdated and nasty.
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Re:Umm... WHY??? (Score:4, Interesting)
I mean seriously, why would you want Mojang?
Maybe they don't want to buy it, they just want to leak a salacious story on the day some other company had big news?
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Re:Umm... WHY??? (Score:5, Informative)
Have you even played the game for more than 5 minutes? it had more depth and FUN my first hour playing it than all the games in the last ten years of gaming combined! Plus, kids fucking LOVE it. Southpark was bang on with its observation that everyone under 16 (maybe 20 now?) has played it and enjoyed it. If he's not a "genius" in some sense, with millions of accounts (paying like $25 each), then what the fuck dude, who the hell is?
He had the right idea at the right time, just like every other inventor in history. Nothing "genius" or not "genius" about it. Minecraft is an amazingly deep and thoughtful game, that is still getting free updates years after its release!
He is actually quite humble in the interviews I have read about him such as this one:
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/... [newyorker.com]
Minecraft is THE cult game of the last 10 years. The spinoffs, youtube channels, mods, servers, real life products, halloween costumes, t shirts... the list goes on and on. Minecraft steve, a creeper or other characters are easily as recognizable as mario, or a disney character to children these days.
There is a TONNE of value with the minecraft brand. Missing that means you are not in touch with the youths! and you lose at your evaluation of the situation.
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I'm surprised nobody gets it, but I bet that Microsoft is preparing its own virtual reality headset.
What will make people adopt VR is games, and the simplest game (think about a 3D Tetris) is Minecraft.
So my second bet is that they'll use Minecraft to sell their VR.
Re:Umm... WHY??? (Score:5, Informative)
Off the top of my head DirectX, Visio, Internet Explorer, Bungie, and Wininternals all worked out very well for them. Not saying you personally like all the products there, but they were all commercially successful in a number of ways.
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Don't forget PowerPoint, which came with Forefront acquisition.
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Oh, it's worse than that. They're nerds.
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With $2 billion, he could afford a MSO.
Dear God, no (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do these successful companies allow themselves to be bought up by behemoths who almost never improve upon them? Is it just so the current owners can retire?
Especially Microsoft, whose modus operandi has been shown again and again to be embrace, extend, extinguish.
Re:Dear God, no (Score:5, Insightful)
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"We all work so that we can pay the bills... go on and do bigger and better things that 2BN dollars can provide."
Will the work on the things post-2BN also be to pay the bills? Seems like a contradiction. I wonder what proportion of people are actually not working to pay the bills.
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Let's be honnest here. If anybody is willing to buy anything I did for $2B, I'd sell it without thinking about it (even if it is a cure for cancer). Cash in your $2B and go explore some other crazy ideas you have that you release for free (you'll probably find a second way to cure cancer). You no longer need money at that point: you can live with $10M/y for 200 years...
checks the date (Score:2)
Ok, it is not April 1st. This is one weird rumor.
If it happens I expect Minecraft to be ported to whatever comes next after C# so that your command blocks can access excel spread sheets and the network printer configuration. *sigh*
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I know Unix!
Stupid move, like buying Gamefreak in 1997 (Score:3)
I was promised "some sort of open source" (Score:5, Informative)
Part of my purchase decision was that Minecraft would be released open source or public domain.
You've just purchased some very high punitive fines.
Once sales start dying and a minimum time has passed, I will release the game source code as some kind of open source. I'm not very happy with the draconian nature of (L)GPL, nor do I believe the other licenses have much merit other than to boost the egos of the original authors, so I might just possibly release it all as public domain. [archive.org]
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Oh, hard luck Microsoft, you've just run afoul of my country's fair trading act.
How did they do that? Your country doesn't let companies buy other companies?
Re:I was promised "some sort of open source" (Score:5, Insightful)
Good luck taking some vague hand wavy statements as evidence in any court case or consumer complaint. So, did he ever outline what a "minimum time" would be? 10 years? 50 years? His lifetime?
If its not written into the license you received when you purchased the product, its all too easy to dismiss in court.
Microsoft? OH HELL NO! (Score:2)
Okay! I understand a monster cash infusion could help Minecraft Studio immensely.
And I'll be damned if I tell Mojang they "MUST" refuse a big payday for all the work they've done.
But Microsoft has proved, time and again, that it simply doesn't know how to deal with properties like this and pretty much always winds up shutting them down because they can't figure out a way to monetize it properly.
Isn't it a little bit obvious? (Score:4, Interesting)
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I totally agree.
In fact, MS will probably propose a VR headset next year, and will use Minecraft to sell it.
Of course, Minecraft will not be available anywhere except MS's VR.
I expect that Minecraft clones on other VR companies will be sued.
way to go (Score:2)
Smart move by notch (Score:2)
Okay, look, Minecraft is at the end of it's life. Sure it's still popular now, but it won't be in a year or so. Notch is smart to sell for so much money.
But will all the minecraft clones and crappy versions out now, it doesn't matter. Notch will have a bunch of money, and hopefully move onto the next big thing he wants to make. Still waiting on the Space Game he teased us with...
Ho Hum... (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:3)
Worthy investment (Score:3)
Microsoft
Minecraft
Both start with MI and end in FT. Both are 9 characters long. Further lexical analysis shows that the mismatched infix "croso" and "necra" strings contain the common substring "cr", leaving "oso" and "nea" after the 2nd reduction. Osonea will be the next game developed by Mojang under Microsofts stewardship. It will make 2.5 billion dollars. Earning Microsoft immediate return on investment of 25%.
qed
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Not idiotic at all for MS... very idiotic for Notch.
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Re:Down the Drain (Score:4, Insightful)
For $2 billion? 20 years of current revenue? For a video game? Sounds pretty brilliant to me.
No minecraft for linux (Score:3)
I know I might be over reacting, but is it just me or is there something wrong with a world where a company has so much money it just just nonchalantly drop $2 billion USD to get a slight competitive advantage? This isn't the first time Microsoft has done this either. This is why liberals don't like concentration of wealth and support high capital gains taxes...
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First off, Minecraft is written in Java.
Secondly, while Irrlicht has improved recently, it's still a toy. Forward rendering only (hope you like fixed-function pipeline lights), nothing in the way of screen-space effects (motion blur, distortion, ambient occlusion, etc), or multi-pass rendering of any kind for that matter, no current-gen support (OpenGL 4 / D3D11), and even if you can overcome all that, it's still a rendering engine and not a game engine. No networking, no physics, no movie player (not even
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Did you even read his title? MineTest [minetest.net] is a Minecraft clone.
It uses Irrlicht.
It is written in C++
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No, the title did not register as a thing. Nonetheless, I stand by my assessment of Irrlicht as being... well, it doesn't suck at what it does necessarily, but it lacks almost everything you'd want these days.
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Minetest is a joke.
I've subscribed to the GitHub bug list.
Lacks tons of features, devs argue over pointless features and bugs, most the devs write amateur, translation, shitty code.
It will probably never amount to anything sadly.
Like Coca-Cola? (Score:2)
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How exactly is the Coca-Cola company a one trick pony? They have dozens upon dozens of globally popular brands.
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how is mojang worth 2 billion? they are a one trick pony.
3 trick
minecraft [minecraft.net]
scrolls [scrolls.com]
and cobalt [playcobalt.com]
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I've paid attention to what Mojang has been doing because I used to play Minecraft a lot. I didn't even know Scrolls or Cobalt were out. I thought they were still in development, along with 0x10c or whatever it was called before development stopped on it. I found out all of these status updates from this article, today.
"1 trick pony" is correct. They have not done any further successful tricks. (This sell-out to Microsoft will probably increment that, but in the "hooker" way.)
I think it's tremendously smart
Re: (Score:3)
But you have to admit, it's one hell of a trick.
I think the breakdown is:
- Minecraft IP: $1.9 billion
- Notch's good luck: $90 million
- Rest of company: $10 million
- Chance to port WinRT to the DCPU-16: priceless
Re: (Score:2)
You must be too young to remember J#.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Would you like to purchase 100 dirt blocks for 10 Microsoft points?