Microsoft Buys Minecraft: A Desperate Move to Rival Sony?

The Seattle-based software giant has paid $2.5 billion to acquire Swedish company Mojang, the creators behind the popular videogame ‘Minecraft’. Could this be an attempt to one-up their Japanese rivals?

[Kayant]

Ehhh...."Minecraft game, is more aimed at pulling users onto the software company's obscure mobile platform than its better known PC system or Xbox game console."

http://uk.reuters.com/artic...

"The software maker calculates it can boost Minecraft sales by expanding the number of game users through Microsoft’s position in video games and computers, and by expanding licensing for things like toys and movies, said one of the people."

"The company thinks that this kind of product, like its Office productivity software, has to be available with high-quality versions for multiple platforms, including those of its rivals, the person with knowledge of Microsoft’s thinking said."

http://www.bloomberg.com/ne...

[TeeKay]

fixed the tags. Thanks!

[MRMagoo123]

Why would they need to expand into toys when there is already a huuuuge amount of mojang licensed toys available ?

[FarEastOrient]

It's more like "why was the purchase price so high?" $2.5 billion is 63% of Marvel and Lucasfilm Industry purchase price. Ubisoft's market cap is only $1.8 billion, Microsoft spent more money on Mojang than what Ubisoft is worth.

[Volkama]

They bought xx million connected gamers. That's where the value is.

Dunno how they plan to monetise them though, but you can bet their plan extends beyond the $150million/year that Mojang were raking in :|

[Kayant]

Brand power, Merchandise, User Base but yh I think it's till high but am an analyst :P.

[dcbronco]

My understanding is that there is a ginormous PC based mods market Mojang didn't have the manpower or desire to corral. Millions are spent in that market and Microsoft intends to have a cut of that money. Also straight to DVD kids movies are huge business.

[Bigpappy]

What this comes down to, is a bunch of people belly aching about M$ buying a popular gaming developer. This is all fan boy drivel that should be left up to business and related analysis.

[jmc8888]

They'll need to sell 92 million more copies of Minecraft at the current PC price to break even only IF they garner 100 percent of the money from the sales, and have no costs to outlay. So probably more like 150 million sold (maybe more) just to breakeven.

Remember, these are the fans that will jump ship most. They aren't going to be loyal to MS because they bought them, and MS is well known to try to screw you over. Minecraft users are a different breed, and they are going to put up with MS's potential crap even less. Minecraft is the wild wild west, and here comes the overlord trying to corral it. Good luck with that Microsoft.

Buying users isn't going to work. What are they going to do, show ads? Yeah that'll fly.

The biggest game ever sold, will have to triple its sales just to make the money back.

Think of that. It's already run it's course mostly and here they are buying, metaphorically a movie, which is already been in the theater for a year, not much more legs in the box office, but for the price they purchased it, they think everyone is going to come back and watch it 3 more times.

Microsoft makes some really dumb decisions, and this is their biggest one yet. (yep even dumber then their fascist vision of the Xbox One).

[SuperBlur]

No it isnt a "desperate" move , they probably wanted to buy them when it first came to xbox 360 but Notch wasn't ready to part way yet. Why you think he called MS in the first place? He knew they were interested before even picking up the phone

[Summons75]

Cool and how many in house MS exclusives do we have coming....oh right more Halo, every other exclusive timed or otherwise is just BOUGHT by them. Heaven forbid they actually sink money into actually MAKING games themselves.

They can buy all the exclusives they want, fact is they will NEVER have the quality outside of Halo while Nintendo and Sony give their first parties the money they need and creative freedom and we get amazing games with great quality. Titanfall desperate, Gears buyout desperate, Tomb Raider timed buyout desperate...the chain continues, too bad Minecraft is already multiplatform and waaaay more popular on PC.

[Zero-One]

Titanfall wasn't desparate, just EA's stupidity in making it Xbox exclusive. Tomb Raider is Square-Enix's stupidity too. This...take what you will.

[MeliMel]

I like how every move made by MS is desperate to you. I say great moves if your an Xbox only gamer.

[CBaoth]

I agree with you Summons if we restrict the discussion to the creation of content versus the acquisition of it. However, this isn't just about Xbox; it's about their mobile sector, the PC market and W9. It's about including a free copy with every purchase of their hardware and OS. Imagine a father equipped with the newest Nokia phone stuck in a far off hotel because of work logging in and playing with his two children on Xbox1. The wife even gets in on the action on her Surface. One piece of software, multiple pieces of hardware, and all can play together. That's what Phil meant by uniting people through software. That's my two cents on the matter.

[OpieWinston]

They now own Gears and have their studio Black Tusk making Gears games (Over 150 employees).

Opening up over 6 studios for game development since Phil Spencer/Satya Nadella came into power.

Xbox One was supposed to launch in Sept 2014, not Nov 2013 when they rushed it and had to make a lot of third party deals to fill up the roster.
Titanfall/Dead Rising 3/Ryse: Son of Rome

They own studios like Press Play making fun Platformers.

You do realize Microsoft takes a very hands on approach with all their exclusive games right? Their IP development team is pretty big and it's got a lot of talented people helping lots of Second/Third party development.
They follow Ubisofts unified model of heavy focus on internal teams assisting all other teams and having regional teams having a hands on approach with development teams in their region.

It takes time to open up studios for development, and yes acquiring studios makes a lot more sense financially speaking since it's costly to build a studio as well as IPs(But they do have a wealth of IPs).

[ScottyHoss]

But is giving out a free copy with the OS worth 2.5 billion? They're going to have to sell copies or it won't be worth it. It is growing though, especially among the younger generation, so only time will tell if it pays off.

[SuperBlur]

I dont really care what MS does with its money ,if their action drives them or not out of the gaming industry , i won't really care and won't miss them much if the later.

But to imply MS pulled a desperate move buying Mojang is just silly

[CBaoth]

@ Scotty

Absolutely. Remember, other platform owners will still have to pay. It might not entice the average N4G user, but if it helps Windows based smartphones and tablets gain market share against iOS and Androids then the move will have already paid dividends.

Concerning W9, what better way to illicit goodwill among consumers by including it with the new OS? I'd rather play Minecraft over Minesweeper any day, wouldn't you? We're talking potentially hundreds of millions of users buying DLC for it too. It's being used in schools now as an instructional tool. The ramifications are enormous and you can't buy that public adulation.

[Alsybub]

@SuperBlur

I would care if MS left the industry in exactly the same way that I would if Sony did. We would have less choice and higher prices. No thanks. The only reason Sony is 'for the gamers' is due to this competition. If there had been no competition from the 360 then the PS4 would probably have the same kind of architecture as the PS3, there wouldn't be free games with Plus and there probably wouldn't be the kind of indie support that we see. All of these things come from healthy competition.

Trust me, if one of the key players disappeared everyone would care about it in a couple of years. They wouldn't be thinking about the fact that one took control of the market but they would be complaining about how expensive things have become and how choice has become less and less.

On topic:-

The way I read this.

If Microsoft even thinks about doing anything, to do with anything = 'Desperate'.

Also, pretty much all first party devs started out as a third party before being bought and either integrated or renamed by the new owner. Whether it's Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo or any other publisher. Just because a company was bought a long time ago or before people knew the brand doesn't make the owner the developer, just because people don't remember that far back.

Just one example would be Naught Dog. It was started in 1984 and bought by Sony fourteen years later, in 2000, just because time has passed does not make that acquisition different to Microsoft's purchase of Mojang now. Was it desperate of Sony to buy Naughty Dog? No, that's absurd. Why is it desperate for Microsoft to buy Mojang? The only answer can be the writer's agenda. To spell that out - clicks = money.

[Azzanation]

Did you know Naughty Dog was a separate games company before Sony brought them out in 2001. Google it. Sony and MS don't like making games and when they actually do, there games like Knack and Age of Empires.

Nintendo are the only true in house developer that can make games from there HQ that competes with any other game in quality and sales.

[lfc_4eva]

@Summons75

Crawl back under your bridge.

[Tito08]

@Azzanation- Omg, yeah, Nintendo are the only ones, just like they have Retro Studios(former Rare devs) and Monolith Soft, and just like they have Tecmo Koei to make Hyrule Warriors, and Namco for Smash and Pokken Fighter, and Nintendo is so awesome the created Fatal Frame, oh wait?

[Tito08]

@Azzanation- Omg, yeah, Nintendo are the only ones, just like they have Retro Studios(former Rare devs) and Monolith Soft(former Namco devs), just like they "formed" Capcom to make a Zelda game and just like they have Tecmo Koei to make Hyrule Warriors, and Namco for Smash and Pokken Tournament, and Nintendo is so awesome they created Fatal Frame, oh wait?

[sinspirit]

Notch had nothing to do with the sale. He stepped down from ownership a while ago to be a regular developer in Mojang. He recently left after the acquisition because he was disappointed and he had scoffed at Microsoft decisions and policies before and isn't exactly fond of them aside from releasing on their platform.

[DOMination-]

True. Notch had nothing to do with the sale. Apart from the fact he owned 70% of mojang

[sinspirit]

@DOMination-

And, he left Mojang because the team wanted to join Microsoft. It's not about shares in this case. He was part of a team which he created. Do you think he's going to force them not to make their own decisions just because he has more shares? He's not a business tyrant. He let them chose and he didn't agree with it so he left instead of forcing them to do it his way.

[daBUSHwhaka]

Not a desperate move,but a smart one.Another finger stuck up at Sony.Having money goes a long way.

[The Meerkat]

Smart is spending 2.5 billion on building your own studios and IPs 5 years ago.

I personally find Minecraft to be tedious and crap. This move has pushed me further into the Sony camp.
And I was a 360 only gamer last gen.

[jrshankill]

https://minecraft.net/stats

16,734,385 people have bought the game.
In the last 24 hours, 7,762 people bought the game.

This is only the PC version.

So, 16,734,385 PC players alone don't think it is tedious and crap. You are entitled to your own opinion though, but this wasn't a smart investment?? I really don't think so.

Buying an IP and software company isn't new. At all.

[MeliMel]

They have new studios and games in the works. You PS fanboys keep saying thing...its getting old.

[DOMination-]

MS have 10+ more first party studios than Sony.

[ger2396]

Another thing they'll have a monopoly on.

[user7402931]

and sony sticks 10 back by saving there money creating new ip's with the amount microsoft spent on one.

[Spotie]

So why can't they buy a victory in the console war?

[user6540948]

Sony IS winning the console war. If you're refering to Sony's financial issues, those are due to struggles in markets that are already dominated by Apple, Google, Samsung, etc. But in games, Sony is king. And it's been that way since ps1. Even Nintendo git pimp slapped by Sony despite having a huge fanbase when ps1 released.

[Gamerbeyond]

micro pissed 2.5 billion on minecraft, by the time sony spends 2.5 billion on its studios they would of funded nearly a dozen projects.

[Wikkid666]

It really has nothing to do with Sony. In the grand scheme of things it has very little to do with consoles at all.

[Dudebro90]

Uh no. Has nothing to do with Sony.

[strangeaeon]

Or maybe it was just a good business move, not everything has to do with Sony. If any company should be making "desperate" moves, it's Sony.

[KakashiHotake]

I don't think this move has anything to do with Sony, especially since Minecraft will still be coming out on PlayStation consoles. Considering how much it cost them they have to have bigger plans. As far as what that plan is, your guess is as good as mine. However I do suspect it has a lot to do with the direction they're trying to go with Windows.

[brotherlymoses]

How is this desperate? They're just buying Minecraft to try and make a profit on it and to bring it to windows phones/tablets.

[ABizzel1]

I personally don't think this has much to do with Xbox per say. I think this move was to benefit Microsoft as a whole. MS has a bunch of products on the market such as the Xbox brand, Windows Phone, Windows Tablets, and obviously their OS is in most PCs.

None of these products are selling extremely well. The XBO is doing fine, but everything else is doing okay at best. Minecraft is an extremely popular game among millions of gamers, and it's not a demanding game to run at all. I think this is a way to get a portion of that audience to move over to these Window devices (especially the mobile devices) and buy more of their products.

It's the only thing that makes any kind of sense as to why they would pay that much for Mojang, if they bought it for the sole purpose of making Minecraft 2 an Xbox exclusive then this may go down as one of the worst business decisions, and inflated buyouts of all time at least within the gaming industry.

The thing is Minecraft alone isn't enough to get people to go to your devices. You need an entire line-up of exclusives software, features, and a price war to stop Apple and Android devices from dominating, and a single game that millions enjoyed isn't going to stop them from buying their current mobile device of choice. It could help their tablet market a bit, but not their phone division.

[bazinga_91]

Can we please stop with these kind of articles. These articles always leads to a fight between us gamers. :/

[hello12]

Minecraft still is a popular game on x box 360. Microsoft bought it to entice more people to switch from the 360 to the x box 1 and a new version is likely been planned.

To rival Sony rubbish.

[DougLord]

MSFT bought Minecraft for $2.5bbn, Sony set $2.1bbn on fire with its stupid phone division. MSFT males over $20bbn a year. Sony has lost $$ 9 of the last 10 years. MSFT sits on piles of cash, Sony sits on piles of DEBT. They owe their employees $60bbn for retirement benefits.

Enjoy your Google, Apple or Amazon Station, because Sony will have to sell it very soon.

[spacedelete]

you better hope Amazon, Google or Apple don't buy the PlayStation brand because then MS will actually be in trouble as the other three will do as much as possible to outspend them meaning Xbox won't be getting any timed exclusives from any dev.

[PSN_ZeroOnyx]

Would be very stupid of Sony to sell their most profitable asset, PlayStation and the rest of their entertainment division keeps Sony in business.

[GodGinrai]

When they start buying up japanese game devs left, right and center , then maybe we can have that conversation. As it stands. Its a good investment for MS. Who on N4G is going to argue with MS about how to make money? lol

Also, I am not sure how a company that is vastly more wealthy than sony is desperate. Yeah they made some mistakes with X1 and now have to whither the storm, but if sony or nintendo was in the same scenario, I would be worried. MS is big enough ( and rich enough) to ride out this gen. X1 is still profitable, remember. They dont lose any money selling those boxes and have not since day one.

[PSN_ZeroOnyx]

They ride it out every generation. 360 became profitable, X1 is profitable, but the Xbox brand has debt and always last in sales which is why It's been suggested more than once that M$ should consider selling the brand as a whole. Yes they sure are desperate to outsell anybody in the home console market.

[D-riders]

this game will never be exclusive or any of that you all are talking about. the fact is MS will make a profit from this studio and it overall makes MS look profitable. when considering that the xbox division has never been profitable. When I say profitable I mean for its existence

[Ryan741]

They expect to have their money back by end of next year so good move long term. Sony unfortunately as a company is just hemorrhaging money so there was no chance in them being able to afford it let alone anything else.

[GodGinrai]

@D-rider

"this game will never be exclusive or any of that you all are talking about."

err...I pretty sure the only console that gets the sequel will be the xbox. phones, tablets, PCs..for sure. but forget about a sequel or any future mojang games on other consoles.

"and it overall makes MS look profitable"

Somebody doesnt read reuters very often. They ARE profitable...no need to "look" it..

"when considering that the xbox division has never been profitable. When I say profitable I mean for its existence"

The xbox division has been profitable since 2007...try harder..

http://www.computerandvideo...

[Manubiggs]

you dont spend 2 Billion on a whim - this has to be a part of their overall strategy and I think it goes far beyond gaming

[brainfart]

Isn't it ironic that Microsoft spend 2b and Sony loss 2 billion!!!!!

[urwifeminder]

MS don't need to worry about Sony , Sony needs to worry about Sony.

[BlackPhillip666]

Its a business move not a rival move no one any any platform are being hurt by this deal by what I've read so far.That could change but i can't see MS wanting to lose out on money. That would be a silly business move.

[dreamed]

Oh god sony fanboys how does it feel to have ms slide its greesy arm around your shoulder, and say "its ok dont worry"

Dont get me wrong im no fanboy myself got both systems,but just to troll you all HA fuckin HA!!!!!!!.....by the way sometimes im a bit of a dick!!!!!!......bring on the disagrees!!!!!!!!....actually probably agrees????

[mhunterjr]

Desperate... thing single most overused word this generation. Look it's no secret that Microsoft is behind in sales to Sony, but why is every business move they make considered desperate?

They have a business to run. Should they do nothing?

[Jdoki]

Off topic... I wonder what MS are going to do about the hundreds of obvious rip-offs that have emerged over the years. Notch loved some of them, but I doubt MS will take such lenient view.

[mcarsehat]

Aren't they already Sony's rivals in almost everything anyway?

[Wikkid666]

What are you talking about? MS and Sony are far from rivals on everything. In some areas they actually work together. Most sides of the businesses they have nothing to do with each other.

[isa_scout]

Doubt it had anything to do with the PS4 or Sony. This purchase doesn't even affect Sonys user base as MineCraft is/will be supported on all Playstation platforms. I feel this purchase has more to do with bolstering Microsofts mobile revenue. How it works out is something we'll just have to wait and see about.... Both Microsoft and Sony have alternate divisions, so not everything that either company does is a result of the console rivalry. Some people are trying to turn this into something it is not. I say if whatever they have planned works out then good for MS. Given how much they spent however they must have something very substantial planned. MS and Sony have people that for the most part are more intelligent than you and I so we'll just have to see.

[ScorpiusX]

It a business move just like any of the many other they have made during their existence, Nothing new. Now if others feel that it was to one up a rivial, then by all means let them think that. MS priorities are it's investors, board and consumers base everyone else is a non factor.

[troylazlow]

MS has around $300 billion in the bank making interest. Buying Mojang for $2.5 billion nets them $150 million a year, brand power, and one of the most popular video games since WoW. The $150 million a year is more than the interest they would have made with it just sitting in the bank. In addition to owning Minecraft, it was a pretty smart business move.

[bleedsoe9mm]

MS told investor it will make its 2.5 billion back by june 2015 , proves there is allot more money in minecraft than just the video game sales . at that point they paid nothing for minecraft and can put for free and preloaded in every OS(phone,tablet,pc,xbox,cloud service) for the next 20 years . no wonder ms jumped on this deal .

[Mrveryodd]

Minecraft 2

[OC_MurphysLaw]

lol... a desperate move. ROFL... its a money making machine pure and simple.

[Provolone24]

I don't know that it's a desperate move to rival Sony, but I do think it's even more evidence that Microsoft lacks an abundance of solid first-party studios. They showed virtually nothing new at Gamescom (I mean, the highlight of their conference was buying off Tomb Raider for a couple of weeks or however long it will be) and then they backed out of Tokyo Games Show. For the second year in a row, MS had a very solid E3 outing, but in doing so put everything they have to offer for the year on the table at once.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Well who wouldn't want to own Minecraft. This has a huge player base. Microsoft isn't desperate.

[AD705]

I'm not much of an xbox guy and even then. Who gives a shit? MS a company buys another company as if that's a bad unusual thing that happens in business.

[ImHyjack]

I love the hate always makes for a good mind munching read of dribble they paid in cash it's a ploy used to re distribute funds and to get a great company 2 billion is pocket change.

[Scatpants]

They were saying on Podcast Beyond that Microsoft planned to make their investment back by the end of next year. I don't see how that's possible, but I'm not a business expert.

[ALLWRONG]

LOL what is desperate is this article. MS has the money to burn or spend however they like. Sony, not so much (maybe they need welfare)

[TheObserver]

Regardless of whether it is a smart move by MS or not, it carries an instinctual gut wrenching response of "Oh god, no. Why?" for the average Minecraft fan. Same thing with Occulus Rift when Facebook bought them. How they handle or strangle player of Minecraft for every cent the player got will forever scar their already horrible public image the gaming space. For their sake, I hope they don't try to implement something stupid to further maximize profits. Knowing Microsoft, hoping they don't be ridiculously petty nickel and dimming the customers is wishful thinking at best. You don't get 80+ billions in cash out of country by not being shrewd. How many players will fall out of the fandom and look to a Minecraft clone I wonder. You guys are fooling yourselves if you say that PR don't matter with a straight face.

[tommygunzII]

In before Microsoft buys WoW.