Why Microsoft bought Minecraft: Jeff Teper says “It is a development tool”

Those who’ve been puzzling over why Microsoft spent $2.5 billion on Minecraft developer Mojang many need to puzzle no more.

Jeff Teper – the “father of SharePoint” and Corporate Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Mincrosft – explained the thinking behind Microsoft’s Micecraft acquisition quite succinctly during a recent tech conference.

“Minecraft is a development tool, “Teper told attendees of the UBS Global Technology Conference in Sausalito, Calif., “People build worlds out of it. If we can get eight-year-old girls and boys building worlds and getting inspired by creating content digitally, as they grow up they’ll want to create in PowerPoint or Visual Studio. And in addition to being one of the few gaming franchises that doesn’t have to be fermium, Minecraft can actually charge money. It turns out it’s a great business with lots of upside”