Microsoft buying Minecraft

[Lyneira]

Microsoft is rumored to be in talks with Mojang (http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/59874-microsoft-buying-minecraft) to buy the company for 2 billion dollars.

First time I heard of it a couple days ago I thought this was some crazy unfounded rumor, but more and more places have picked this up. I found it almost impossible to believe because Notch has been openly critical of Microsoft in the past, and Oculus rift selling out to Facebook.

But according to the original source (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-09/microsoft-said-near-2-billion-deal-for-minecraft-maker.html) it was actually Notch himself who "reached out to Microsoft a few months ago, based on a positive working relationship on Minecraft for Xbox." Neither MS nor Mojang have commented on the story so far, and the minecraft forum newspost is already exploding with overwhelmingly negative reactions to it.

In my view the fact Mojang hasn't commented means the rumors are very likely true because otherwise they could have quickly dismissed them as unfounded once they saw the story was being picked up as widely as it has been.

The big question that remains is how Microsoft plans to monetize Minecraft to make that 2 billion back and how that will affect the game.

[Pernix_8D]

I doubt Microsoft will majorly screw up the Mojang's games if they're willing to pump 2 billion dollars into the sale. Then again, like you said, I'm curious as to how they'll earn that back. That news article said that MS would be selling bulk amounts of merchandise, but I doubt that'll make back that money. So instead I'll put money on maybe premium features, or possibly even a subscription fee to play on multiplayer servers.

This being said, I'm sure MS will contribute to Minecraft in a positive light as well. They're gaming sector isn't as big as it is for nothing. In any case, if Mojang take accept this deal, they're going to be filthy stinkin' rich. (at the expense of disappointing players of a game that no longer belongs to them)

[Lyneira]

They also want to expand the playerbase even further, not sure how much room Minecraft still has to grow. The thing I'm most worried about is the Forge modding scene. Mods will in some cases be direct competition to whatever paid content Microsoft will want to lay out for the game, so I could see the official mod API having artificial limitations and the current "sky-is-the-limit" forge modding to be slowly extinguished.

[fredoduquartier]

What is shure: microsoft will find a way to let us pay more than we should. I think they'll do like wow: mothly subscription fees for multiplayer and at this point minecraft is dead. Or they will make modding far more limited and they will publish mods for 1, 2 bucks but with better quality, but at this point too minecraft is dead but much slower. The only way to make minecraft worth the 2 billion is impossible (in my oppinion) that will be the end of minecraft.

[InsaneJ]

Microsoft bought a turd. With the demise of Bukkit, multi player servers will soon diminish leaving only outdated bukkit/spigot and modded Forge servers.

The only way to salvage that is if Mojang or Microsoft makes serious work of their API so the community can produce mods/plugins that allow server admins to run proper and up-to-date servers. Keep in mind though that the $2 billion doesn't go to Mojang, it goes to the owner of Mojang which is Notch. Microsoft essentially buys the intellectual property, the company's assets (code, domain names, servers, office furniture, etc.), and maybe can take over it's personnel if they are willing to work for them.

So after the $2 billion is spend, the question is how much more money is Microsoft willing to invest in Minecraft? Notch will be sitting pretty on his pig pile of money and I don't think it's likely he's going to be paying for extra code monkeys when he's got an island in the Caribbean to choose for his retirement.

[fredoduquartier]

Bukkit is just half dead, it might survive tho. Microsoft will sign the death of minecraft, he bought it way to late.

EDIT: a coding friend of mine is coding an alternate api in case bukkit dies, it is called something like "Slimeit"

[Lyneira]

Apparently Microsoft's idea with Minecraft is to get it onto Windows Phone to help increase Windows Phone sales. If they're smart they'll not upset the current fanbase by making the update schedule of the main java edition worse than it is, but I could still see them making a wrong move that earns them the ire of many players and ends the cultural phenomenon that it is now. New generations are growing up wanting minecraft because of their friends, older siblings playing it, or all the youtube videos that made Minecraft huge.

Regardless I hope Minecraft gets some serious competition soon, it will be badly needed if Microsoft start sending Minecraft down a path for the worse. Skype certainly hasn't gotten any better since it was bought by them.

[boya0910]

Well at least it wasnt EA...

[Marius49]

Don't know if this is something you should look at as a bad thing or a good one. Might be a bit of both because the community itself and the death of Bukkit kinda killed this game really slowly. I feel like Minecraft is just a marketing thing this days instead of the wonderful game we all used to explore bit by bit, chunk by chunk.

I think I found an alternative to it tho and it looks like the devs take their project pretty serious. It's named Oort online if you didn't hear about it yet and its a Sandbox RPG game that feels and looks like the old minecraft we all used to know but with some nice improvements (and a proper engine that will make the game work like butter - hopefully). Take a look at this page: http://oortonline.com/. They also got a video talking about how the game will look like and their plans about it.

[GopherAtl]

It looks pretty, but reading through the rewards it sounds like they may already selling pay-to-win features to the top-tier backers. It also sounds like they're planning on a more central, controlled online network, where they are the one and only hosting provider for personal servers. That's just impressions from marketing copy, of course, so I'll check back and keep an eye on development, but to me, early indicators are that this will be no replacement for minecraft, at least, not minecraft as I like to play it.

[boya0910]

Yeah there won't be a replacement for Minecraft if anything there will be more people playing MC than ever before we don't know what will happen, maybe Microsoft will make it better? Or maybe worse? All I know is that they've bought it and I can honestly say if that it's going to be like the xbox360/one edition, I think we might be alright! :P

[Pernix_8D]

OortOnline doesn't look half bad. Might take a while to be fully released, though, beings a community funded game. Might end up being a pay-to-win thing as well if donations dry up.

[fredoduquartier]

I think I know what they'll do: an official serever where you pay to win :) and that has tons of mods and plugins not avaliable elsewhere

[Lyneira]

It sounds like an interesting game but it's looking very much like a more directed experience focused on combat and empire building and competition against other players as well as the usual voxelgame activities of building cool stuff. I can't see a modding scene like Minecraft's flourishing in a massive multiplayer online setup like this. You need the ability to run private servers for mods to flourish. It might still be a great game, something I'll possibly buy if there is something playable out. It just won't be exactly the same as minecraft.

I've had the time to take in more different viewpoints and while I'm still a bit skeptical about Microsoft's handling, it is possible that they'll invest the resources in it to take the game to a new level. Mojang's update schedule of late hasn't been all that amazing either, especially with how long 1.8 took to develop and still no mod API in sight. If Microsoft truly wants to learn from Minecraft as a phenomenon and keep the essence of what made it strong, we might see a renewed effort in development while preserving the ability for modders and servers to do their thing.

I'll keep enjoying the game for as long as it's fun and wait to see what happens. :)

[fredoduquartier]

Dual the game might take over minecraft, I met the main dev in a conference, but... It will sadly be monthly fees on a big server...