Minecraft Now Officially Belongs To Microsoft
Microsoft's $2.5 billion acquisition of Mojang and the Minecraft series has closed.
Microsoft's $2.5 billion deal to buy Swedish developer Mojang and the sandbox series Minecraft has now officially closed, Xbox gaming boss Phil Spencer announced on Twitter today.
It’s official, today we welcome Mojang to the Microsoft Studios family. We're excited for the possibilities ahead w/the Minecraft community.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 6, 2014
After some reports and speculation, Microsoft on September 15 announced plans to buy Mojang and Minecraft in the multibillion dollar deal. Now that the deal has gone through, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson and two other key Mojang developers will leave the studio. Persson, who owned 70 percent of Mojang, stands to make around $1.75 billion from the acquisition.
Writing on Twitter, Persson reflected on moving away from Mojang.
I left the mojang office for the last time, and didn't properly say bye because everything is strange.
— Markus Persson (@notch) November 5, 2014
I don't even know what a fitting bye is. So I just left like it's a normal day, with normal things happening.
— Markus Persson (@notch) November 5, 2014
At the time the buyout was announced, Persson said about the deal: "It's not about the money. It's about my sanity." It's unclear what the future holds for Persson or if he'll be involved in game development in any way.
Mojang joins other internal Microsoft game studios such as 343 Industries (Halo), Black Tusk Studios (Gears of War), Lionhead Studios (Fable), and Turn 10 Studios (Forza), among others.
Microsoft has said that it will not remove versions of Minecraft for competing players, including PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. Regarding the future of Minecraft, Spencer said last month that it's too early to talk about a potential Minecraft 2.
At the time, Spencer explained that Microsoft must first "meet the needs" of the existing Minecraft community before the company expands the franchise.
Outside of Minecraft the game, Warner Bros. is currently working on a Minecraft movie. Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy is reportedly a frontrunner to direct the "large-budget" movie, which is in the very early stages of development and might not be released until 2017 or 2018.
Microsoft maintains that the $2.5 billion Minecraft acquisition will be "break-even in FY15 on a GAAP basis."
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