Microsoft Purchases Mojang for $2.5 Billion

Notch, Manneh, and Porser to Leave Company

By Michelle Curtis on September 15, 2014 at 8:45pm

Yes, you read that right: $2.5 billion dollars. That's probably enough to buy an island and some dinosaurs.

Microsoft acquired Mojang, the company behind the massive open-world game “Minecraft,” in the second billion-dollar purchase made in the gaming industry this year instead.

Rumors have been circulating for quite some time that this purchase was in the works. Questions were raised about the fate of Markus “Notch” Persson, creator of the runaway hit and major stockholder in Mojang. Notch decided to bow out of the company. Mojang CEO Carl Manneh and Game Designer Jakob Porsér will also be leaving. Notch, Manneh, and Porsér founded Mojang in 2009.

While there will be some changes within the company, Mojang insists that there shouldn't be any major changes to the game or its continued evolution. However, they do admit that it is still too early to know exactly how this will affect staff, current and future projects, and multiplatform support for “Minecraft”.

One of the main reasons cited for the sale is the overwhelming success of “Minecraft” and the stress this put on Notch as a game developer:

I don’t see myself as a real game developer. I make games because it’s fun, and because I love games and I love to program, but I don’t make games with the intention of them becoming huge hits, and I don’t try to change the world. [...] I love you. All of you. Thank you for turning "Minecraft" into what it has become, but there are too many of you, and I can’t be responsible for something this big. Markus "Notch" Persson

Notch seems reluctant to remain in the spotlight but plans to continue participating in Ludum Dares and enjoying the art of game developing. However, he says that if he makes something that gains a great deal of popularity again, he'll "probably abandon it immediately."

Minecraft

Release: 11/18/2011 [NA]

ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

Publisher: Mojang, Microsoft, Sony

Platforms: iOS, Linux, Mac, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Wii U, Xbox 360

Purchase: Amazon