We heard yesterday, and earlier in the week that Microsoft was going to make a big purchase of Mojang AB, the company behind Minecraft, for an estimated sum of 2,5 billion US dollars. The rumors have turned out to be true as of today, Microsoft Does indeed own Mojang.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Tweeted today on his official Twitter account that he was “Thrilled to welcome the Minecraft community to the MSFT family & excited about the open-world possibilities ahead!”
Microsoft’s first few announcements have clearly stated that their procurement of the company should be a benefit to Minecraft players.
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“Microsoft’s investments in cloud and mobile technologies will enable “Minecraft” players to benefit from richer and faster worlds, more powerful development tools, and more opportunities to connect across the “Minecraft” community,” was a very early point made in the company’s official statement on the purchase.
Apple and Sony fans playing the game on the Playstation console range plus on Mac and iOS devices shouldn’t worry as “Microsoft plans to continue to make “Minecraft” available across all the platforms on which it is available today: PC, iOS, Android, Xbox and PlayStation,” according to the statement.
Mojang shed light on the purchase, and the departure of Minecraft creator Notch in a statement from their end of things. “As you might already know, Notch is the creator of Minecraft and the majority shareholder at Mojang. He’s decided that he doesn’t want the responsibility of owning a company of such global significance.”.
Mojang insists that the purchase will not hamper players or Minecraft developers themselves. “Minecraft will continue to evolve, just like it has since the start of development. We don’t know specific plans for Minecraft’s future yet, but we do know that everyone involved wants the community to grow and become even more amazing than it’s ever been. Stopping players making cool stuff is not in anyone’s interests.”
Notch has been busy working on newer and better things according to his own testimony on the matter, additionally saying that the huge size of the company was beginning to become a burden for him.
“I’m aware this goes against a lot of what I’ve said in public. I have no good response to that,” he said. “As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.”
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In an attempt to dispel criticisms of him selling out, Notch stated that “It’s not about the money. It’s about my sanity.”.
In the coming months we should hear if anything Minecraft related is going to change via Microsoft, we’ll keep you posted if anything develops.
Source: Microsoft
Further Reading: Notch’s Official Site